We have responsibilities for others, not just across space but across time. We have responsibilities to people who came before us. They left us a world of institutions, ideas or possibilities for which we, in turn, owe them something. One of the things we owe them is not to squander them. Tony Judt ideainstitutionleave share on social
The pleasures of mental agility are much overstated, inevitably - as it now appears to me - by those not exclusively dependent upon them. Tony Judt agilityappeardependent Change image and share on social
I just like being on my own on trains, traveling. I spent all my pocket money travelling the London Underground and Southern Railway, what used to be the Western region, and in Europe as much as I could afford it. My parents used to think I was going places, but I wasn't, I was just travelling the trains. Tony Judt affordeuropelondon share on social
I can still boss people around. I can still write. I can still read. I can still eat, and I can still have very strong views. Tony Judt boseatpeople Change image and share on social
I don't believe in an afterlife. I don't believe in a single or multiple godhead. I respect people who do, but I don't believe it myself. Tony Judt afterlifegodheadmultiple Change image and share on social
You don't have to be Jewish to understand the history of Europe in the 20th century, but it helps. Tony Judt 20thcenturyeurope Change image and share on social
I'm not sure I've learned anything new about life; but I've had to think harder about death and what comes after for other people. Tony Judt deathhardhave Change image and share on social
I see myself as, first and above all, a teacher of history; next, a writer of European history; next, a commentator on European affairs; next, a public intellectual voice within the American left; and only then an occasional, opportunistic participant in the pained American discussion of the Jewish matter. Tony Judt affairamericancommentator share on social
Why is it that here in the United States we have such difficulty even imagining a different sort of society from the one whose dysfunctions and inequalities trouble us so? Tony Judt difficultydysfunctionimagine Change image and share on social
Judaism for me is a sensibility of collective self-questioning and uncomfortable truth-telling. I feel a debt of responsibility to this past. It is why I am Jewish. Tony Judt collectivedebtfeel Change image and share on social