Our collection of howard zinn quotes. Howard zinn was an american historian, political scientist, author, playwright, and social activist. He is best known for his critically acclaimed and influential book a people’s history of the united states.
Through his writings and activism, zinn sought to bring attention to the plight of the oppressed and to promote social justice. Here you will find a selection of his insightful quotes which speak to his commitment to social reform and the power of collective action.
Howard Zinn Quotes About War, Tyranny, And Death
♣ “We need to decide that we will not go to war, whatever reason is conjured up by the politicians or the media, because war in our time is always indiscriminate, a war against innocents, a war against children.” ― Howard Zinn
♣ “The atmosphere of war brutalizes everyone involved, begets a fanaticism in which the original moral factor is buried at the bottom of a heap of atrocities committed by all sides.” ― Howard Zinn
♣ “Ruling elites seem to have learned through the generations—consciously or not—that war makes them more secure against internal trouble.” ― Howard Zinn
“It was an old lesson learned by governments: that war solves problems of control.” ― Howard Zinn
♣ “There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.” ― Howard Zinn
♣ “How can you have a war on terrorism when war itself is terrorism?” ― Howard Zinn
♣ “They have the guns; we have the poets. Therefore, we will win.” ― Howard Zinn
♣ “In war, good guys always become bad guys.” ― Howard Zinn
“When you fight a war against a tyrant who do you kill? You kill the victims of the tyrant.” ― Howard Zinn
♣ “Tyranny is tyranny, let it come from whom it may.” ― Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn Quotes About The Rich And Poor, And Crime And Justice
♣ “It must surely be a tribute to the resilience of the human spirit that even a small number of those men and women in the hell of the prison system survive it and hold on to their humanity.” ― Howard Zinn
♣ “The prisons in the United States had long been an extreme reflection of the American system itself: the stark life differences between rich and poor, the racism, the use of victims against one another, the lack of resources of the underclass to speak out, the endless “reforms” that changed little. Dostoevski once said: “The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.” ― Howard Zinn
♣ “I’ve always resented the smug statements of politicians, media commentators, corporate executives who talked of how, in America, if you worked hard you would become rich. The meaning of that was if you were poor it was because you hadn’t worked hard enough. I knew this was a lie, about my father and millions of others, men and women who worked harder than anyone, harder than financiers and politicians, harder than anybody if you accept that when you work at an unpleasant job that makes it very hard work indeed.” ― Howard Zinn
♣ “A jury is always a more orthodox body than any defendant brought before it; for blacks, it is usually a whiter group, for poor people, a more prosperous group.” ― Howard Zinn
“Capital punishment could not be justified in any society calling itself civilized.” ― Howard Zinn
♣ “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
♣ “You call this progress because you have motor cars and telephones and flying machines and a thousand potions to make you smell better? And people sleeping on the streets?” ― Howard Zinn
♣ “It is a cruel and useless substitute for the elimination of those conditions—poverty, unemployment, homelessness, desperation, racism, greed—which are at the root of most punished crime. The crimes of the rich and powerful go mostly unpunished.” ― Howard Zinn
♣ “It had long been true, and prisoners knew this better than anyone, that the poorer you were the more likely you were to end up in jail. This was not just because the poor committed more crimes. In fact, they did. The rich did not have to commit crimes to get what they wanted; the laws were on their side. But when the rich did commit crimes, they often were not prosecuted, and if they were, they could get out on bail, hire clever lawyers, get better treatment from judges. Somehow, the jails ended up full of poor black people.” ― Howard Zinn
♣ “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
♣ “I am convinced that imprisonment is a way of pretending to solve the problem of crime. It does nothing for the victims of crime, but perpetuates the idea of retribution, thus maintaining the endless cycle of violence in our culture.” ― Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn Quotes About America And Our Society
♣ “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 all over 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.” ― Howard Zinn
“Protest beyond the law is not a departure from democracy; it is absolutely essential to it.” ― Howard Zinn
♣ “I wonder how the foreign policies of the United States would look if we wiped out the national boundaries of the world, at least in our minds, and thought of all children everywhere as our own.” ― Howard Zinn
♣ “I’m worried that students will take their obedient place in society and look to become successful cogs in the wheel – let the wheel spin them around as it wants without taking a look at what they’re doing. I’m concerned that students become passive acceptors of the official doctrine that’s handed down to them from the White House, the media, textbooks, teachers, and preachers.” ― Howard Zinn
Verdict
The quotes of howard zinn provide a powerful and meaningful perspective on the world and its history. His insightful words remind us of the importance of standing up for what is right and making sure our voices are heard.