January 28, 2010
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Good bye
An American scholar and historian and a hero of mine is gone. I often made posters
with quotations from his writings to display on my refrigerator and above my pc desk. I admired his speaking out…challenging us to really think critically….shaking us up and making us look at things in a different way. He served his country courageously during WW 2, but afterward while putting his medals and papers away said, “Never again.” He pointed out the horrors of wars and protested with persuasive eloquence. He was a supporter of the Civil Rights Movement scolding JFK for not doing enough. His outspoken criticism of the university cost him his teaching job but didn’t stop him. He inspired his many students, friends and readers to become more interested, aware, actve….to have courage to get involved. He died of a heart attack yesterday at age 87 in California…..but he had a very good heart in other ways. I’ll miss him.Some of my favorite quotes of his are:
1. “Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.” [often wrongly attributed to Thos. Jefferson who expressed a similar view.] 2. “One certain effect of war is to diminish freedom of expression.” 3. “(Nationalism is) a set of beliefs taught to each generation in which the Motherland or the Fatherland is an object of veneration and becomes a burning cause for which one becomes willing to kill the children of other Motherlands or Fatherlands” 4. “War itself is the enemy of the human race.” 5. “There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.“
And speaking to us most hopefully and appropriately today are these:
“To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places — and there are so many — where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction. And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”“Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world.”
To find out more about him: http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/01/28/peoples-history-author-howard-zinn-dies-at-87-washington-post/ or just google “Howard Zinn”
Comments (9)
I like Howard Zinn, may he rest in peace. He affected a lot of people in a good way.
What a great post and history for those who don’t know who he was.
@mammaquiet - We need more political activists like he was. I need to get a copy of A People’s History of the United States and read it again.
@gottobereal64 - I’d like to see his friends Ben Afleck and Matt Damon do a film of his life. Glad I could provide some information to those who didn’t know of him.
I’ve read his quotes -everytime we visit! And 87 is still so young! He will be missed.
I loved hearing him. He would have documentaries on LINK TV. That’s where I first saw him a few years back, and when I talked about him at the dining table, my children knew all about him and his book, A People’s History of The US. I felt so happy that they knew about him. I too was saddened at another beautiful mind going to sleep eternally.
@murisopsis - Yes, I did have a lot of them posted to read over and over again. He inspired me to speak out on issues and will continue to do so. Let’s get a copy of his history. The boys should read it.
@ZSA_MD - I had a feeling you would know him! Many criticized him for his views, but I admired him greatly as did you. Not much was made on major news networks about his death…..more about author Salinger’s death. More people evidently read Catcher in the Rye than A People’s History of the United States.
I used to have a copy of that book. what a loss!
@Gma_Joyce - I have to add this Joyce, when I first heard him, I was so bowled over that I sent him an e mail, thanking for his thoughts and the lesson I had learnt from him and how much he had enriched my life with his firts documentary that I had heard. Do you know, he replied to me?? He was such a gentleman and his words were so kind in his reply. I am so upset that I didn’t send him a regular letter, then I could have had something tangible from him by way of response.
and more said about his life’s work. All the attention was given to J.D. Salinger who died the day after Zinn. I’d like to see a film made of Zinn’s life. His writings show such wisdom and love for peace and his fellow human beings. I’m glad you wrote him of your appreciation. It evidently “made his day.”