My history writing was based on what I saw in strange, exotic places rather than just reading books. Tony Judt basebookexotic Change image and share on social
We need to start talking about inequality again; we need to start talking about the inequities and unfairnesses and the injustices of an excessively divided society, divided by wealth, by opportunity, by outcome, by assets and so forth. Tony Judt assetdivideexcessively share on social
Nationalist, anti-European, anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim public political figures, seem a worrying picture of a possible European future. We could still fall back into pre-Europe... and it worries me. Tony Judt antibackeurope Change image and share on social
I don't want to be the passively alert vegetable in the corner that takes in everything but can't communicate, which I think would suck a lot of life out of my family without giving very much to me. Tony Judt alertcommunicatecorner Change image and share on social
I don't believe that one should have one-size-fits-all moral rules for international political action. Tony Judt actionfitinternational Change image and share on social
If we have learned nothing else from the 20th century, we should at least have grasped that the more perfect the answer, the more terrifying its consequences. Incremental improvements upon unsatisfactory circumstances are the best that we can hope for, and probably all we should seek. Tony Judt 20thanswercentury share on social
We need to learn... how war brutalises and degrades winners and losers alike and what happens to us when, having heedlessly waged war for no good reason, we are encouraged to inflate and demonise our enemies in order to justify that war's indefinite continuance. Tony Judt alikebrutalisecontinuance 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'm regarded outside New York University as a looney tunes leftie, self-hating Jewish communist; inside the university, I'm regarded as a typical, old-fashioned, white male liberal elitist. I like that. I'm on the edge of both; it makes me feel comfortable. Tony Judt comfortablecommunistedge share on social
I went to live on a kibbutz, and I'd idealized the world of collective, agrarian work, where everyone was equal, everyone contributed, that all this awful European intellectual stuff just fell away. Tony Judt agrarianawfulcollective Change image and share on social
