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Tony Judt

Tony Judt Quotes

Historian

Tony Judt was an accomplished historian renowned for his profound insights and critical analyses of 20th-century European history. His work covered a wide range of themes from the French Revolution to the end of the Cold War, with a particular focus on issues such as democracy, political freedom, and moral responsibility.

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All World People War Ifs Thinking Conditions Ideas Israel Knows Men Past Social Today War Of The Worlds Wealth Writing 20th Century Citizens Country I Can

Famous Tony Judt Quotes

“If we have learned nothing else from the 20th century, we should at least have grasped that the more perfect the answer, the more terrifying its consequences. Incremental improvements upon unsatisfactory circumstances are the best that we can hope for, and probably all we should seek.”

Ifs Should Answers Perfect Century Circumstances Consequence Improvement 20th Century

Book:Ill Fares the Land

Source: Ill Fares the Land

“As citizens of a free society, we have a duty to look critically at our world. But if we think we know what is wrong, we must act upon that knowledge.”

Ifs Thinking Knows World Looks Duty Citizens Our World Free Society

Book:Ill Fares the Land

Source: Ill Fares the Land

“We no longer ask of a judicial ruling or a legislative act: is it good? Is it fair? Is it just? Is it right? Will it help bring about a better society or a better world? Those used to be the political questions, even if they invited no easy answers. We must learn once again to pose them.”

Ifs World Helping Political Used Asks Easy Answers Fairs Used To Be Invited Ruling Judicial Easy Answers

Book:Ill Fares the Land

Source: Ill Fares the Land

“If we remain grotesquely unequal, we shall lose all sense of fraternity: and fraternity, for all its fatuity as a political objective, turns out to be the necessary condition of politics itself.”

Ifs Political Turns Loses Conditions Objectives Fraternity

Book:Ill Fares the Land

Source: Ill Fares the Land

“If active or concerned citizens forfeit politics, they thereby abandon their society to its most mediocre and venal public servants”

Ifs Citizens Concerned Active Servant Abandon Mediocre Forfeit Public Servants

Book:Ill Fares the Land

Source: Ill Fares the Land

“If words fall into disrepair, what will substitute? They are all we have”

Ifs Fall Substitutes

Book:The Memory Chalet

Source: The Memory Chalet

“It might be thought the height of poor taste to ascribe good fortune to a healthy man with a young family struck down at the age of sixty by an incurable degenerative disorder from which he must shortly die. But there is more than one sort of luck. To fall prey to a motor neuron disease is surely to have offended the Gods at some point, and there is nothing more to be said. But if you must suffer thus, better to have a well-stocked head.”

Ifs Men Wells Said Might Age Young Suffering Dies Fall Poor Healthy Taste Disease Luck Fortune Be Good Height Disorder Sixty Offended Prey Good Fortune Motor Neurons Poor Taste

Author:Tony Judt

About the Author

Born: January 2, 1948
Died: August 6, 2010
Known for: Historian
Quotes: 76

Related Topics

World People War Ifs Thinking Conditions Ideas Israel Knows Men Past Social Today War Of The Worlds Wealth Writing 20th Century Citizens Country I Can

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People Ifs Thinking Knows Men World Way Want Love Life Inspirational Needs Giving Feels Should Writing Trying Years Mind Firsts

Books & Sources

Ill Fares the LandRelated source material

Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945Related source material

The Memory ChaletRelated source material

Reappraisals: Reflections on the Forgotten Twentieth CenturyRelated source material

Thinking the Twentieth CenturyRelated source material

When the Facts Change: Essays, 1995-2010Related source material

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