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Howard Zinn

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Famous Howard Zinn Quotes

“Scholars, who pride themselves on speaking their minds, often engage in a form of self-censorship which is called "realism." To be "realistic" in dealing with a problem is to work only among the alternatives which the most powerful in society put forth. It is as if we are all confined to a, b, c, or d in the multiple choice test, when we know there is another possible answer. American society, although it has more freedom of expression than most societies in the world, thus sets limits beyond which respectable people are not supposed to think or speak.”

PeopleIfsThinkingKnowsWorldMindSelfProblemFormChoicesSpeakAnswersPowerfulExpressionPrideLimitsTestsAlternativesMost PowerfulRealisticCensorshipScholarRealismMultipleConfinedRespectableFreedom Of ExpressionAmerican SocietyMultiple ChoiceSelf Censorship
Book:The Zinn Reader: Writings on Disobedience and Democracy
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“I start from the supposition that the world is topsyturvy, that things are all wrong, that the wrong people are in jail and the wrong people are out of jail, that the wrong people are in power and the wrong people are out of power, that the wealth is distributed in this country and the world in such a way as not simply to require small reform but to require a drastic reallocation of wealth. I start from the supposition that we don't have to say too much about this because all we have to do is think about the state of the world today and realize that things are all upside down.”

PeopleThinkingWorldWayCountryStatesTodayRealizingWealthToo MuchReformJailWorld TodayUpside DownDrasticSupposition
Book:The Zinn Reader: Writings on Disobedience and Democracy
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“The white population could not possibly be unaffected by those events - some whites more stubborn in their defense of segregation, but others beginning to think in different ways. And the black population was transformed, having risen up in mass action for the first time, feeling its power, knowing now that if the old order could be shaken it could be toppled.”

IfsThinkingWayFirstsDifferentFeelingsActionOrderBlackWhiteKnowingEventsMassFirst TimePopulationDefenseDifferent WaysTransformedStubbornSegregationRisen
Author:Howard Zinn
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“I think a way to behave is to think not in terms of representative government, not in terms of voting, not in terms of electoral politics, but thinking in terms of organizing social movements, organizing in the work place, organizing in the neighborhood, organizing collectives that can become strong enough to eventually take over - first to become strong enough to resist what has been done to them by authority, and second, later, to become strong enough to actually take over the institutions.”

ThinkingWayFirstsHas BeensDoneEnoughGovernmentStrongSocialTermMovementAuthorityInstitutionsBehaveVotingCollectivesNeighborhoodRepresentativesStrong EnoughSocial MovementsWork PlaceRepresentative Government
Author:Howard Zinn
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“Transcendentalism is, we might say, an early form of anarchism. The Transcendentalists also did not call themselves anarchists, but there are anarchist ideas in their thinking and in their literature. They were all suspicious of authority. We might say that the Transcendentalism played a role in creating an atmosphere of skepticism towards authority, towards government.”

ThinkingIdeasGovernmentMightFormLiteratureRolesAuthorityCreatingAtmosphereSkepticismSuspiciousAnarchismAnarchistTranscendentalism
Author:Howard Zinn
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“The idea of direct action against the evil that you want to overcome is a kind of common denominator for anarchist ideas and anarchist movements. I think one of the most important principles of anarchism is that you cannot separate means and ends. Anarchism requires means and ends to be in line with one another. I think this is in fact one of the distinguishing characteristics of anarchism.”

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Author:Howard Zinn
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“We cannot create blueprint for future society, but it is good to think about that. It is good to have in mind a goal. It is constructive, it is helpful, it is healthy, to think about what future society might be like, because then it guides you somewhat what you are doing today, but only so long as this discussions about future society don't become obstacles to working towards this future society. Otherwise you can spend discussing this utopian possibility versus that utopian possibility, and in the mean time you are not acting in a way that would bring you closer to that.”

ThinkingWayMindMeanLongMightTodayGoalActingPossibilityHealthyObstaclesGuidesDiscussionHelpfulVersusConstructiveDiscussingUtopianBlueprintsFuture Society
Author:Howard Zinn
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“I began to think of war, even so-called "good wars" like World War II, as corrupting everybody. Violence begetting violence. The good guys beginning to act like the bad guys. And when I studied the history of wars, it seemed to me that that was the case. Athens vs. Sparta in the Peloponnesian War. The Athenians presumably the democratic state. The Spartans the totalitarian state. But as the war went on, the Athenians began to act like the Spartans. They began committing atrocities and cruelties. So I saw this as a characteristic of war, even so-called "good wars."”

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Author:Howard Zinn
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“The problem of giving health care to everybody cannot be solved so long as we're spending huge sums of money for war. Already we have a very wasteful healthcare system, the most wasteful healthcare system in the world. I mean, we spend the most money and still have 40 million people without insurance. Compare us to Cuba. Cuba is our enemy, run by a dictator, Fidel Castro. But people in Cuba get health care at least equal to that of the United States - with very scarce resources. So I think this issue is the most important domestic issue.”

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“That chain of relationships made me think of how connections are made--you read a book, you meet a person, you have a single experience, and your life is changed in some way. No act, therefore, however small, should be dismissed or ignored.”

ThinkingWayShouldPersonsMadeBookLife IsChangedConnectionsChainsIgnored
Book:You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train: A Personal History of Our Times
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“Human beings, whatever their backgrounds, are more open than we think, that their behavior cannot be confidently predicted from their past, that we are all creatures vulnerable to new thoughts, new attitudes. And while such vulnerability creates all sorts of possibilities, both good and bad, its very existence is exciting. It means that no human being should be written off, no change in thinking deemed impossible.”

ThinkingShouldHumansMeanPastHuman BeingsExistenceAttitudeImpossibleWrittenPossibilityCreaturesBehaviorExcitingBackgroundsVulnerableVulnerabilityGood And BadNew ThoughtNew Attitude
Book:The Zinn Reader: Writings on Disobedience and Democracy
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“The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”

ThinkingShouldHumansHopeHuman BeingsCompassionVictoryFutureInfiniteOur FutureMarvelousHuman HistoryMy FutureSuccessionDefianceHope For The FutureHopeful Future
Book:You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train: A Personal History of Our Times
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“I have come to believe that our lives can be turned in a different direction, our minds adopt a different way of thinking, by some significant, though small event. That belief can be frightening, or exhilarating, depending on whether you just contemplate it or do something with it.”

ThinkingWayMindBelieveDifferentBeliefJusticeOur LivesEventsDiversitySocial JusticeSignificantDifferent WaysContemplatingFrighteningWay Of ThinkingExhilaratingDifferent DirectionsSmall Events
Book:You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train: A Personal History of Our Times
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“Is not nationalism - that devotion to a flag, an anthem, a boundary so fierce it engenders mass murder - one of the great evils of our time, along with racism, along with religious hatred? These ways of thinking - cultivated, nurtured, indoctrinated from childhood on - have been useful to those in power, and deadly for those out of power.”

ThinkingWayHas BeensEvilReligiousChildhoodMassRacismHatredMurderBoundariesDevotionOur TimeNationalismFlagsFierceWay Of ThinkingAnthemReligious Hatred
Book:A Power Governments Cannot Suppress
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“Objectivity is impossible and it is also undesirable. That is, if it were possible it would be undesirable, because if you have any kind of a social aim, if you think history should serve society in some way; should serve the progress of the human race; should serve justice in some way, then it requires that you make your selection on the basis of what you think will advance causes of humanity.”

IfsThinkingWayShouldHumansKindWould BeHumanitySocialCausesJusticeRaceProgressImpossibleBasesAimHuman RaceSelectionObjectivityUndesirable
Author:Howard Zinn
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“Nations are not communities and never have been. The history of any country, presented as the history of a family, conceals the fierce conflicts of interest (sometimes exploding, often repressed) between conquerors and conquered, masters and slaves, capitalists and workers, dominators and dominated in race and sex. And in such as world of conflict, a world of victims and executioners, it is the job of thinking people, as Albert Camus suggested, not to be on the side of the executioners.”

PeopleThinkingWorldHas BeensCountrySometimesJobsNationsSexSidesInterestCommunityRaceMastersConflictVictimSlaveWorkersCapitalistFierceConquerorRepressedExplodingExecutionersConflict Of InterestMasters And Slaves
Author:Howard Zinn
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“To be hopeful in bad times is based on the fact that human history is not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act. And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand Utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”

PeopleIfsThinkingWayGivingShouldHumansFactsPastRememberHopeEnergyWaitingHuman BeingsCompassionKindnessHistorySacrificeWorstGreatnessVictoryFutureCapacityInfiniteCrueltyHopefulGood TimesOur FutureMarvelousHuman BehaviorHuman HistoryMy FutureSuccessionDefianceBad TimesUtopianPast Present FutureHope For The FutureBright FutureGreat InspirationalHopeful Future
Author:Howard Zinn
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“War is by definition the indiscriminate killing of huge numbers of people for ends that are uncertain. Think about means and ends, and apply it to war. The means are horrible, certainly. The ends, uncertain. That alone should make you hesitate. . . . We are smart in so many ways. Surely, we should be able to understand that in between war and passivity, there are a thousand possibilities.”

PeopleThinkingWayShouldMeanWarEndsAbleNumbersPossibilityHugeThousandSmartKillingDefinitionsHorribleUncertainPassivityHuge Numbers
Author:Howard Zinn
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