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
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
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
Obviously a primary liberal conviction is that we should be tolerant of other peoples' convictions. But if we believe in something, we had better find ways to say so convincingly. Tony Judt convictionconvincinglyfind Change image and 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
We are not merely historians but also and always citizens. Tony Judt citizenhistorian Change image and share on social
It does irritate me when I am described as a controversialist and commentator on Israel. Tony Judt commentatorcontroversialistirritate Change image and 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
