Howard Zinn Quotes

History can come in handy. If you were born yesterday, with no knowledge of the past, you might easily accept whatever the government tells you. But knowing a bit of history -- while it would not absolutely prove the government was lying in a given instance -- might make you skeptical, lead you to ask questions, make it more likely that you would find out the truth.

Pessimism becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy; it reproduces itself by crippling our willingness to act.

The power of a bold idea uttered publicly in defiance of dominant opinion cannot be easily measured. Those special people who speak out in such a way as to shake up not only the self-assurance of their enemies, but the complacency of their friends, are precious catalysts for change.