Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn
Howard Zinnwas an American historian, playwright, and social activist. He was a political science professor at Boston University. Zinn wrote more than twenty books, including his best-selling and influential A People's History of the United States. In 2007, he published a version of it for younger readers, A Young People′s History of the United States...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionHistorian
Date of Birth24 August 1922
CountryUnited States of America
Howard Zinn quotes about
addiction far greater leaders political scale ugly weapons
The weapons addiction of all our political leaders ... has the same characteristics as drug addiction. It is enormously costly, very dangerous, provokes ugly violence, and is self-perpetuating -- all on a scale far greater than drug addicton.
accept force might rare willing
I am willing to accept that there might be rare circumstances where applications of force might be effective,
bad beings defiance human itself marvelous
To live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.
class world monopoly
It is no longer simply the merchant prince, or the aristocratic monopoly, or even the employing class, that is exploiting the world: it is the nation, a new democratic nation composed of united capital and labor.
mean artist tuesday
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.
dream artist air
There was an idea in the air, becoming clearer and stronger, an idea not just in the theories of Karl Marx but in the dreams of writers and artists through the ages: that people might cooperatively use the treasures of the earth to make life better for everyone, not just a few.
democracy doe realms
Civil disobedience is not something outside the realm of democracy. Democracy requires civil disobedience. Without civil disobedience democracy does not exist.
brutality transfers our-time
We must transfer our anger to the brutalities of our time.
party two public-opinion
In a two-party system, if both parties ignore public opinion, there is no place voters can turn.
inspirational death running
Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of leaders…and millions have been killed because of this obedience…Our problem is that people are obedient allover the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves… (and) the grand thieves are running the country. That’s our problem.
world problem obedience
The problem in this world is not civil disobedience...th e problem in this world is civil obedience.
telling-the-truth revolutionary truth-be-told
But I suppose the most revolutionary act one can engage in is... to tell the truth.
inspirational life peace
We don't have to engage in grand, heroic actions to participate in the process of change. Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world.
meaningful truth law
Protest beyond the law is not a departure from democracy; it is absolutely essential to it.