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
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
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 was born in 1948, so I'm a '60s kid, and in the '60s everyone talked all the time, endlessly, about socialism versus capitalism, about political choices, ideology, Marxism, revolution, 'the system' and so on. Tony Judt 60sbearcapitalism 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
How should we begin to make amends for raising a generation obsessed with the pursuit of material wealth and indifferent to so much else? Tony Judt amendbegingeneration Change image and share on social
There is nothing to be said for being crippled. You don't see the world better or clearer, nor do you develop some special set of skills by way of compensation. Tony Judt clearcompensationcripple Change image and share on social
American social arrangements, economic arrangements, the degree of inequality in American life, the relatively small role played by the government in American public life and so forth, compares to exactly the opposite conditions in most of the European societies. Tony Judt americanarrangementcompare share on social
History can show you that it was one pile of bad stuff after another. It can also show you that there's been tremendous progress in knowledge, behaviour, laws, civilisation. It cannot show you that there was a meaning behind it. Tony Judt badbehaviourcivilisation share on social
I would say that I have become more radical as I have gotten older. I started out very radical when I was young, like most people, but I became less actively politically engaged in the middle of my life. Tony Judt activelyengagelife share on social
