Quotessence
Home / Authors / Edward Said
Edward Said

Edward Said Quotes

Professor

Filter quotes by topic

AllWorldStatesUnitedUnited StatesPeopleIslamEventsFactsHumansKindDifferentIslamicOrientalismFirstsHas BeensInterestMadeTerrorismThinkingViews

Famous Edward Said Quotes

“In the Islamic world, the U.S. is seen in two quite different ways. One view recognizes what an extraordinary country the U.S. is. Every Arab or Muslim that I know is tremendously interested in the United States. Many of them send their children here for education. Many of them come here for vacations. They do business here or get their training here. The other view is of the official United States, the United States of armies and interventions.”

KnowsWorldWayChildrenTwoDifferentCountryStatesUnitedViewsUnited StatesTrainingArmyExtraordinaryDifferent WaysOfficialsIslamicVacationIntervention
Author:Edward Said
Create image

“The Arab rulers are basically unpopular. They are supported by the United States against the wishes of their people. In all of this rather heady mixture of violence and policies that are remarkably unpopular right down to the last iota, it's not hard for demagogues, especially people who claim to speak in the name of religion, in this case Islam, to raise a crusade against the United States and say that we must somehow bring America down.”

PeopleHardStatesLastsAmericaNamesSpeakWishUnitedCasesUnited StatesViolencePolicyClaimsRaisesIslamRulersMixturesCrusades
Author:Edward Said
Create image

“It is very easy to make wild generalizations about Islam. All you have to do is read almost any issue of The New Republic and you'll see there the radical evil that's associated with Islam, the Arabs as having a depraved culture, and so forth. These are impossible generalizations to make in the United States about any other religious or ethnic group.”

StatesCultureEvilEasyReligiousUnitedUnited StatesIssuesImpossibleGroupsIslamRadicalRepublicGeneralizationDepravedEthnic Groups
Author:Edward Said
Create image

“Most Arabs and Muslims feel that the United States hasn't really been paying much attention to their desires. They think it has been pursuing its policies for its own sake and not according to many of the principles that it claims are its own - democracy, self-determination, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, international law.”

ThinkingFeelsHas BeensSelfStatesLawDesireUnitedAttentionPrinciplesUnited StatesDemocracyPolicySpeechDeterminationClaimsSakeInternationalSelf DeterminationFreedom Of SpeechAssemblyInternational LawFreedom Of Assembly
Author:Edward Said
Create image

“What is quite worrisome is the absence of analysis and reflection. Take the word "terrorism." It has become synonymous now with anti-Americanism, which, in turn, has become synonymous with being critical of the United States, which, in turn, has become synonymous with being unpatriotic. That's an unacceptable series of equations.”

StatesTurnsUnitedUnited StatesReflectionSeriesCriticalTerrorismAbsenceAnalysisEquationsAmericanismUnpatriotic
Author:Edward Said
Create image

“In the Islamic world, the U.S. is seen in two quite different ways. One view recognizes what an extraordinary country the U.S. is.The other view is of the official United States, the United States of armies and interventions. The United States that in 1953 overthrew the nationalist government of Mossadegh in Iran and brought back the shah. The United States that has been involved first in the Gulf War and then in the tremendously damaging sanctions against Iraqi civilians. The United States that is the supporter of Israel against the Palestinians.”

WorldWayFirstsHas BeensTwoDifferentWarCountryStatesGovernmentUnitedViewsUnited StatesInvolvedArmyExtraordinaryIsraelDifferent WaysOfficialsIslamicIranPalestinianSupporterInterventionCiviliansSanctionsGulf War
Author:Edward Said
Create image