Goodreads Librarians Group discussion

The Goodreads Quote of the Day for Monday is:

"Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire." This is incorrectly attributed to Thomas Keneally, whose birthday is today (Oct. 7, 2013). While the quote is used in the book, it is in actuality from the Talmud. This is stated clearly in the book.

Technically, it is a paraphrase of the Talmud. And that paraphrase is Keneally's wording. (The original Hebrew/Aramaic is וכל המקיים נפש אחת מעלין עליו כאילו קיים עולם מלא, and a good literal translation would be "And whoever fulfills a single soul, it is considered as if he fulfilled an entire world.")

Rivka, I understand that it is paraphrased. But here is an explanation from SparkNotes of how it is used in the book. It is used as a quote from the Talmud in the book. I think it is misleading to list it on Goodreads as a quote from Thomas Keneally.

Stern: “Whoever saves one life saves the world entire.”

In one of the last scenes in the film, as Schindler prepares to flee from the Allies, the Schindlerjuden give Schindler a gold ring made from gold fillings, engraved with the above quotation from the Talmud, the book of Jewish law. After the Allied victory, Schindler is a hunted war criminal. When the workers hear he must flee, they make him the ring as a small token of their appreciation, knowing that there is no way to repay the gift of life. Stern presents the ring to Schindler, telling him the quotation is from the Talmud. The Jews want Schindler to know that by saving them, he has saved humanity.
http://www.sparknotes.com/film/schind...

Well, actually, I see this quote from SparkNotes refers to the film rather than the book. It has been quite a while since I read the book myself.

The quote, from my 1982 edition, is (my bold):

Towards the end of their talk, Oskar did say something that had novelty. In times like these, he said, it must be hard for the churches to go on telling people that their Heavenly Father cared about the death of even a single sparrow. He’d hate to be a priest, Herr Schindler said, in an era like this, when life did not have the value of a packet of cigarettes. Stern agreed but suggested, in the spirit of the discussion, that the Biblical reference Herr Schindler had made could be summed up by a Talmudic verse which said that he who saves the life of one man, saves the entire world.

That quote is from Itzhak Stern (Schindler's accountant), not Keneally or Schindler, but Stern describing Schindler.

The QotD would seem to be a paraphrase of that statement. Could that wording be from the movie rather than the book?

EDIT: as Ida said it is the movie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49aQb7...

Possibly. But as it's a QotD, it stays.

From the Yad Vashem website:

The medal of the Righteous [Among the Nations] bears the Jewish saying: "Whosoever saves a single life, saves an entire universe" (Mishnah, Sanhedrin 4:5).

Schindler, of course, was awarded one of these.
http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/righte...

I can see where it could be considered a quote from the book by Keneally, but I still think it is rather misleading.

Thanks, Banjomike, for finding the original quote from the book. I did not have a copy handy.

Banjomike wrote: "The quote, from my 1982 edition, is (my bold):

Towards the end of their talk, Oskar did say something that had novelty. In times like these, he said, it must be hard for the churches to go on tell..."

rivka wrote: "Possibly. But as it's a QotD, it stays."

Perhaps in the future, the Quote of the Day should be verified more carefully before being sent out to everyone on the mailing list.

Ida wrote: "rivka wrote: "Possibly. But as it's a QotD, it stays."

Perhaps in the future, the Quote of the Day should be verified more carefully before being sent out to everyone on the mailing list."

That has been mentioned. There is a dedicated thread for storing QotD edits until a staffer (with the necessary immunity) has some free time.

If you have suggestions regarding the QotD, please use the Contact Us link on the Help page.

Closing thread.