Quotessence
Home / Authors / Andrew Sullivan
Andrew Sullivan

Andrew Sullivan Quotes

Author

Filter quotes by topic

AllGayPeoplePoliticsIfsThinkingKnowsPresidentHumansMenTorture

Famous Andrew Sullivan Quotes

“It's also one thing to see a celebrity or some kind of character on a TV show being gay. It's a totally different thing when you know your husband... not your husband, but your brother or your friend or the dude you hung out in high school was gay. I mean, that is what changes people's minds, what changes people's minds.”

PeopleKnowsMindKindMeanDifferentCharacterShowsSchoolOne ThingBrotherTvsGayHusbandHigh SchoolDifferent ThingsHungTv ShowsYour BrotherYour HusbandBeing Gay
Author:Andrew Sullivan
Create image

“Monsters remain human beings. In fact, to reduce them to a subhuman level is to exonerate them of their acts of terrorism and mass murder — just as animals are not deemed morally responsible for killing. Insisting on the humanity of terrorists is, in fact, critical to maintaining their profound responsibility for the evil they commit. And, if they are human, then they must necessarily not be treated in an inhuman fashion. You cannot lower the moral baseline of a terrorist to the subhuman without betraying a fundamental value.”

IfsHumansFactsValuesHumanityEvilHuman BeingsAnimalLevelsResponsibilityMoralFashionMassMurderResponsibleFundamentalsProfoundKillingCriticalTerrorismMonstersTerroristCommitTreatedBetrayMaintainingInhumanInsisting
Author:Andrew Sullivan
Create image

“I believe in the pursuit of happiness. Not its attainment, nor its final definition, but its pursuit. I believe in the journey, not the arrival; in conversation, not monologues; in multiple questions rather than any single answer. I believe in the struggle to remake ourselves and challenge each other in the spirit of eternal forgiveness, in the awareness that none of us knows for sure what happiness truly is, but each of us knows the imperative to keep searching. I believe in the possibility of surprising joy, of serenity through pain, of homecoming through exile.”

KnowsBelievePainJoySpiritI BelieveChallengesAnswersStruggleJourneyAwarenessPossibilityConversationEternalFinalsDefinitionsI Believe InPursuitSurprisingSerenityMultipleExileImperativesPursuit Of HappinessAttainmentArrivalsRemakesMonologuesHomecoming
Author:Andrew Sullivan
Create image

“I must say that the Katrina response does help me better understand the situation in Iraq. The best bet is that the president doesn't actually know what's happening there, is cocooned from reality, has no one in his high-level staff able to tell him what's actually happening, and has created a culture of denial and loyalty that makes fixing mistakes or holding people accountable all but impossible.”

PeopleKnowsDoeHelpingRealityAbleCulturePresidentLevelsMistakeSituationImpossibleHappeningsResponseIraqLoyaltyDenialHelp MeStaffFixingHigh LevelKatrina
Author:Andrew Sullivan
Create image

“I was also reminded of one of the unique charms of NYC in the summer: vast piles of rotting garbage piled on the sidewalks, with that sweet yet nauseating smell of decomposing groceries sitting in the humid fetid air, and rancid food juices oozing over the sticky sidewalks. With my windows open to counter the stuffiness, I could occasionally catch a whiff of the stench outside. People actually like living in this chaotic, fetid monument to incompetence? Beats me.”

PeopleAirSweetSummerUniqueBeatsSittingWindowSmellCharmGarbageJuiceMonumentGroceriesChaoticIncompetenceSidewalkRottingStickyNyc
Author:Andrew Sullivan
Create image

“Some of this is unavailable to the male-female union: there is more likely to be greater understanding of the need for extramarital outlets between two men than between a man and a woman; and again, the lack of children gives gay couples greater freedom. Their failures entail fewer consequences for others. But something of the gay's relationship's necessary honesty, its flexibility, and its equality could undoubtedly help strengthen and inform many heterosexual bonds.”

MenNeedsGivingChildrenTwoHelpingUnderstandingGreaterHonestyCoupleGayConsequenceFemaleUnionsMalesFewerFlexibilityOutletsGay CouplesMale Female
Author:Andrew Sullivan
Create image

“All s, like all human beings, get many things wrong. Ronald Reagan's extraordinary achievement as of the U.S. was to succeed in getting the two biggest challenges of his time right: defeating the Soviet Union and reviving the American economy and spirit. Neither of those achievements was inevitable. Both were fiercely opposed at the time. But he persisted; his visionary focus matched only by a gentleness of character and a brilliance of rhetoric.”

HumansTwoWarCharacterSpiritChallengesHuman BeingsEconomyFocusColdSucceedAchievementUnionsExtraordinaryInevitableSovietRhetoricCold WarSoviet UnionGentlenessBrillianceVisionariesMatchedAmerican EconomyExtraordinary Achievement
Author:Andrew Sullivan
Create image