Howard Zinn Quotes About Justice

Quotes about: Justice

• If patriotism were defined, not as blind obedience to government, not as submissive worship to flags and anthems, but rather as love of one's country, one's fellow citizens (all over the world), as loyalty to the principles of justice and democracy, then patriotism would require us to disobey our government, when it violated those principles.

  Howard Zinn

  Loyalty, Country, Government

  Howard Zinn (1990). “Declarations of Independence: Cross-examining American Ideology”, Perennial

• The struggle for justice should never be abandoned because of the apparent overwhelming power of those who seem invincible in their determination to hold on to it. That apparent power has, again and again, proved vulnerable to human qualities less measurable than bombs and dollars: moral fervor, determination, unity, organization, sacrifice, wit, ingenuity, courage, patience.

  Howard Zinn

  Determination, Struggle, Sacrifice

  Howard Zinn (1993). “Failure to Quit: Reflections of an Optimistic Historian”, p.27, South End Press

• Whenever I become discouraged (which is on alternate Tuesdays, between three and four) I lift my spirits by remembering: The artists are on our side! I mean those poets and painters, singers and musicians, novelists and playwrights who speak to the world in a way that is impervious to assault because they wage the battle for justice in a sphere which is unreachable by the dullness of ordinary political discourse.

  Howard Zinn

  Mean, Artist, Justice

  Howard Zinn (2012). “The Historic Unfulfilled Promise”, p.65, City Lights Publishers

• Very important thing to keep in mind, that when justice comes and when injustices are remedied, they’re not remedied by the initiative of the national government or the politicians. They only respond to the power of social movements.

  Howard Zinn

  Government, Justice, Mind

  Howard Zinn (2012). “Howard Zinn Speaks: Collected Speeches, 1963-2009”, p.293, Haymarket Books

• But by this time I was acutely conscious of the gap between law and justice. I knew that the letter of the law was not as important as who held the power in any real-life situation.

  Howard Zinn

  Real, Law, Justice

  Howard Zinn (2010). “You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train: A Personal History of Our Times”, p.43, Beacon Press

• You can't be neutral on a moving train.

  Howard Zinn

  Moving, History, Justice

  Howard Zinn (1999). “Marx in Soho: A Play on History”, p.57, South End Press

• 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.

  Howard Zinn

  Thinking, Race, Objectivity

• The cry of the poor is is not always just, but if you don't listen to it, you will never know what justice is.

  Howard Zinn

  Justice, Cry, Poor

• If you join a fight for social justice you may win or lose, but just by being part of the struggle, you win, and your life will be better for it.

  Howard Zinn

  Struggle, Fighting, Winning

• If we have learned anything in the past ten years, it is that these lovely things about America were never lovely. We have been expansionist and aggressive and mean to other people from the beginning. And we've been aggressive and mean to people in this country, and we've allocated the wealth of this country in a very unjust way. We've never had justice in our courts for the poor people, for black people, for radicals. Now how can we boast that America is a very special place? It's not that special. It really isn't.

  Howard Zinn

  Country, Mean, Past

  "The Problem is Civil Obedience". www.thirdworldtraveler.com. 1970.

• The historian's distortion is more than technical, it is ideological; it is released into a world of contending interest, where any chosen emphasis supports some kind of interest, whether economic or political or racial, or national or sexual.

  Howard Zinn

  Justice, Political, Support

  Howard Zinn (2015). “A People's History of the United States: 1492-Present”, p.8, Routledge

• I was just a seventeen-year-old kid, going to Times Square to participate in this left-wing demonstration. The signs were for peace and justice and so on. But then I was attacked by police mounted on horseback and on foot. Before I knew it, I was clubbed and knocked unconscious. So it gave me a radical view of the United States, a critical view of the role of the state and of the instruments of the state - the police, the Army, and so on - as not being neutral at all in political battles, but being generally against workers and against striking people, against dissenters of all kinds.

  Howard Zinn

  Kids, Army, People

  Source: www.guernicamag.com

• 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.

  Howard Zinn

  Believe, Thinking, Justice

  Howard Zinn (2010). “You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train: A Personal History of Our Times”, p.173, Beacon Press

• I will try not to overlook the cruelties that victims inflict on one another as they are jammed together in the boxcars of the system. I don’t want to romanticize them. But I do remember (in rough paraphrase) a statement I once read: “The cry of the poor is not always just, but if you don’t listen to it, you will never know what justice is.

  Howard Zinn

  Justice, Trying, Together

  Howard Zinn (2014). “A People's History of the United States”, p.12, Pan Macmillan

• People who have no respect for human life or for freedom or justice have taken over this beautiful country of ours. It will be up to the American people to take it back.

  Howard Zinn

  Beautiful, Country, Taken

  Howard Zinn (2012). “The Historic Unfulfilled Promise”, p.110, City Lights Publishers

• The stories coming out of Iraq everyday - the violence, the chaos, the deaths of Americans, the deaths of Iraqis... Of course the deaths of Iraqis are not played up as much. But when they count the corpses they see women and children. We are constantly killing the people who are suspected of something. Now, in the United States or under any decent system of justice, you don't kill people on suspicion. That's what you do when you bomb a house because there are suspected leaders there. But we've been doing that again and again and the result has been a toll of thousands of civilians.

  Howard Zinn

  Children, People, Justice

  Source: www.guernicamag.com

• What motivates me is the desire to bring up a whole new generation of active citizens who believe in peace and social justice and will work for it.

  Howard Zinn

  Believe, Justice, Desire

  Source: facpub.stjohns.edu

• I always emphasize the historic role of people of color in organizing and protesting to achieve justice.

  Howard Zinn

  Color, People, Justice

  Source: facpub.stjohns.edu

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