"I believe in a relatively equal society, supported by institutions that limit extremes of wealth and poverty. I believe in democracy, civil liberties, and the rule of law. That makes me a liberal, and I’m proud of it."
— Paul Krugman

"Most books on witchcraft will tell you that witches work naked. This is because most books on witchcraft were written by men. "
— Neil Gaiman (Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch)

"Radical simply means "grasping things at the root."
"
— Angela Davis

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it."
— Upton Sinclair

"You need only reflect that one of the best ways to get yourself a reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go about repeating the very phrases which our founding fathers used in the great struggle for independence."
— Charles A. Beard

"All the lessons of history in four sentences:
Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad with power.
The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly small.
The bee fertilizes the flower it robs.
When it is dark enough, you can see the stars."
— Charles A. Beard

"The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum."
— Noam Chomsky

"All over the place, from the popular culture to the propaganda system, there is constant pressure to make people feel that they are helpless, that the only role they can have is to ratify decisions and to consume."
— Noam Chomsky

"If you assume that there is no hope, you guarantee that there will be no hope. If you assume that there is an instinct for freedom, that there are opportunities to change things, then there is a possibility that you can contribute to making a better world."
— Noam Chomsky

"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."
— Howard Zinn

"Historically, the most terrible things - war, genocide, and slavery - have resulted not from disobedience, but from obedience."
— Howard Zinn

"Any humane and reasonable person must conclude that if the ends, however desireable, are uncertain and the means are horrible and certain, these means must not be employed."
— Howard Zinn (Passionate Declarations: Essays on War and Justice)

"The cry of the poor is is not always just, but if you don't listen to it, you will never know what justice is."
— Unknown, recalled by Howard Zinn

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
— Margaret Mead

"There is no greater insight into the future than recognizing...when we save our children, we save ourselves"
— Margaret Mead

"Don't let the bastards grind you down."
— Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid's Tale)

"Wanting to meet an author because you like his work is like wanting to meet a duck because you like paté."
— Margaret Atwood

"The greatest feminists have also been the greatest lovers. I'm thinking not only of Mary Wollstonecraft and her daughter Mary Shelley, but of Anais Nin, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and of course Sappho. You cannot divide creative juices from human juices. And as long as juicy women are equated with bad women, we will err on the side of being bad."
— Erica Jong

"I've never been able to figure out precisely what a feminist is. I know only this, people call me a feminist whenever I express any sentiment that differentiates me from a doormat."
— Rebecka West

"..."Fun?" you ask. "Weren't feminists these grim-faced, humorless, antifamily, karate-chopping ninjas who were bitter because they couldn't get a man?" Well, in fact the problem was that all too many of them HAD gotten a man, married him, had his kids, and then discovered that, as mothers, they were never supposed to have their own money, their own identity, their own aspirations, time to pee, or a brain. And yes, some women indeed became bad-tempered as a result. After all, no anger, no social change."
— Susan J. Douglas

"The oppressors do not perceive their monopoly on having more as a privilege which dehumanizes others and themselves. They cannot see that, in the egoistic pursuit of having as a possessing class, they suffocate in their own possessions and no longer are; they merely have."
— Paulo Freire

"Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral. "
— Paulo Freire

"The oppressors do not favor promoting the community as a whole, but rather selected leaders."
— Paulo Freire (Pedagogy of the Oppressed)