How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Clausner shows me the bottom of his bowl. Where others have carved their numbers, and Alberto and I our names, Clausner has written: "Ne pas chercher à comprendre." (10.14)
The French here means "do not look for understanding" (or "do not search for a reason"). As a motto in the camp, it makes a lot of sense. To Clausner, the Chemistry Examination is just plain ridiculous, because why would the Germans now have a need for chemists? The whole premise is absurd and they shouldn't even try to understand it. As the SS officer tells Primo in the very beginning when he asks why he can't have the icicle, "There is no why" in Auschwitz.
Quote #8
Today, at this very moment as I sit writing at a table, I myself am not convinced that these things really happened. (10.16)
Looking back on his entire experience, everything seems so absurd and senseless that Levi can't even be sure that these things happened. In a world governed by logic and reason, they would have been impossible.