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 ZinnRead
Each situation has to be evaluated separately, for all are different. In general, I believe in non-violent direct action, which involve organizing large numbers of people, whereas too often violent uprisings are the product of a small group. If enough people are organized, violence can be minimized in bringing about social change.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Social change should be pursued through collective non-violent efforts rather than through violence and small groups.
Howard Zinn emphasizes that every social situation is unique and needs to be analyzed individually. He advocates for non-violent direct action as a powerful tool for social change, arguing that organizing large groups of people can effectively address issues without resorting to violence, which often arises from smaller factions. Zinn suggests that a collective approach can lead to meaningful change while minimizing harm.
Themes
Social ChangeNon-ViolenceCollective ActionViolenceUprising
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech advocating for peaceful protests against social injustices.
More from Howard Zinn
All 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.
Howard ZinnRead
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 ZinnRead
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 ZinnRead
Americans have been taught that their nation is civilized and humane. But, too often, U.S. actions have been uncivilized and inhumane.
Howard ZinnRead
The challenge remains. On the other side are formidable forces: money, political power, the major media. On our side are the people of the world and a power greater than money or weapons: the truth.
Howard ZinnRead
Similar quotes
This is one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.
Neil ArmstrongRead
No summer ever came back, and no two summers ever were alike. Times change, and people change; and if our hearts do not change as readily, so much the worse for us.
Nathaniel HawthorneRead
For the first time in human history, society has the capacity, the knowledge and the resources to eradicate poverty
Thabo MbekiRead
It is hard to let old beliefs go. They are familiar. We are comfortable with them and have spent years building systems and developing habits that depend on them. Like a man who has worn eyeglasses so long that he forgets he has them on, we forget that the world looks to us the way it does because we have become used to seeing it that way through a particular set of lenses. Today, however, we need new lenses. And we need to throw the old ones away.
Kenichi OhmaeRead
We look in our own backyard and say, 'How do we help at-risk families, at risk youth? How do we think through some of the problems affecting the Pacific Northwest and make some change there?'
Melinda GatesRead
[A]ll change, even very large and powerful change, begins when a few people start talking with one another about something they care about.
Margaret J. WheatleyRead