Assassination Quotes

“I see men assassinated around me every day. I walk through rooms of the dead, streets of the dead, cities of the dead; men without eyes, men without voices; men with manufactured feelings and standard reactions; men with newspaper brains, television souls and high school ideas. Kennedy himself was 9/10ths the way around the clock or he wouldn't have accepted such an enervating and enfeebling job -- meaning President of the United States of America. How can I be concerned with the murder of one man when almost all men, plus females, are taken from cribs as babies and almost immediately thrown into the masher?”
― Charles Bukowski, Charles Bukowski: Sunlight Here I Am: Interviews and Encounters 1963-1993

“We don't take orders from you, Sergeant." Quain said. "Your man tried to assassinate-"
"He isn't mine. My man has eyes that change color with the seasons.”
― Maria V. Snyder, Scent of Magic

“1. Bangladesh.... In 1971 ... Kissinger overrode all advice in order to support the Pakistani generals in both their civilian massacre policy in East Bengal and their armed attack on India from West Pakistan.... This led to a moral and political catastrophe the effects of which are still sorely felt. Kissinger’s undisclosed reason for the ‘tilt’ was the supposed but never materialised ‘brokerage’ offered by the dictator Yahya Khan in the course of secret diplomacy between Nixon and China.... Of the new state of Bangladesh, Kissinger remarked coldly that it was ‘a basket case’ before turning his unsolicited expertise elsewhere.

2. Chile.... Kissinger had direct personal knowledge of the CIA’s plan to kidnap and murder General René Schneider, the head of the Chilean Armed Forces ... who refused to countenance military intervention in politics. In his hatred for the Allende Government, Kissinger even outdid Richard Helms ... who warned him that a coup in such a stable democracy would be hard to procure. The murder of Schneider nonetheless went ahead, at Kissinger’s urging and with American financing, just between Allende’s election and his confirmation.... This was one of the relatively few times that Mr Kissinger (his success in getting people to call him ‘Doctor’ is greater than that of most PhDs) involved himself in the assassination of a single named individual rather than the slaughter of anonymous thousands. His jocular remark on this occasion—‘I don’t see why we have to let a country go Marxist just because its people are irresponsible’—suggests he may have been having the best of times....

3. Cyprus.... Kissinger approved of the preparations by Greek Cypriot fascists for the murder of President Makarios, and sanctioned the coup which tried to extend the rule of the Athens junta (a favoured client of his) to the island. When despite great waste of life this coup failed in its objective, which was also Kissinger’s, of enforced partition, Kissinger promiscuously switched sides to support an even bloodier intervention by Turkey. Thomas Boyatt ... went to Kissinger in advance of the anti-Makarios putsch and warned him that it could lead to a civil war. ‘Spare me the civics lecture,’ replied Kissinger, who as you can readily see had an aphorism for all occasions.

4. Kurdistan. Having endorsed the covert policy of supporting a Kurdish revolt in northern Iraq between 1974 and 1975, with ‘deniable’ assistance also provided by Israel and the Shah of Iran, Kissinger made it plain to his subordinates that the Kurds were not to be allowed to win, but were to be employed for their nuisance value alone. They were not to be told that this was the case, but soon found out when the Shah and Saddam Hussein composed their differences, and American aid to Kurdistan was cut off. Hardened CIA hands went to Kissinger ... for an aid programme for the many thousands of Kurdish refugees who were thus abruptly created.... The apercu of the day was: ‘foreign policy should not he confused with missionary work.’ Saddam Hussein heartily concurred.

5. East Timor. The day after Kissinger left Djakarta in 1975, the Armed Forces of Indonesia employed American weapons to invade and subjugate the independent former Portuguese colony of East Timor. Isaacson gives a figure of 100,000 deaths resulting from the occupation, or one-seventh of the population, and there are good judges who put this estimate on the low side. Kissinger was furious when news of his own collusion was leaked, because as well as breaking international law the Indonesians were also violating an agreement with the United States.... Monroe Leigh ... pointed out this awkward latter fact. Kissinger snapped: ‘The Israelis when they go into Lebanon—when was the last time we protested that?’ A good question, even if it did not and does not lie especially well in his mouth.

It goes on and on and on until one cannot eat enough to vomit enough.”
― Christopher Hitchens

“Here's an interesting form of murder we came up with: assassination. You know what's interesting about assassination? Well, not only does it change those popularity polls in a big fucking hurry, but it's also interesting to notice who it is we assassinate. Did you ever notice who it is? Stop to think who it is we kill? It's always people who've told us to live together in harmony and try to love one another. Jesus, Gandhi, Lincoln, John Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, John Lennon, they all said, "Try to live together peacefully." BAM! Right in the fucking head. Apparently we're not ready for that.”
― George Carlin

“Assassination is almost always unthinkable to moral, thinking men until after a holocaust has come and gone.”
― Caitlin R. Kiernan

“Remaining for a moment with the question of legality and illegality: United Nations Security Council Resolution 1368, unanimously passed, explicitly recognized the right of the United States to self-defense and further called upon all member states 'to bring to justice the perpetrators, organizers and sponsors of the terrorist attacks. It added that 'those responsible for aiding, supporting or harboring the perpetrators, organizers and sponsors of those acts will be held accountable.' In a speech the following month, the United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan publicly acknowledged the right of self-defense as a legitimate basis for military action. The SEAL unit dispatched by President Obama to Abbottabad was large enough to allow for the contingency of bin-Laden's capture and detention. The naïve statement that he was 'unarmed' when shot is only loosely compatible with the fact that he was housed in a military garrison town, had a loaded automatic weapon in the room with him, could well have been wearing a suicide vest, had stated repeatedly that he would never be taken alive, was the commander of one of the most violent organizations in history, and had declared himself at war with the United States. It perhaps says something that not even the most casuistic apologist for al-Qaeda has ever even attempted to justify any of its 'operations' in terms that could be covered by any known law, with the possible exception of some sanguinary verses of the Koran.”
― Christopher Hitchens, The Enemy

“I'm afraid, based on my own experience, that fascism will come to America in the name of national security.”
― Jim Garrison

“Attempts at character assassination occur when it is too conspicuous to pierce your target with a bullet. ”
― Sardonyx Jade

“He also had a condition that was referred to as granulated eyelids and it caused him to blink more than usual, as if he found creation slightly more than he could accept.”
― Ron Hansen

“I can remember when I was a bit of an ETA fan myself. It was in 1973, when a group of Basque militants assassinated Adm. Carrero Blanco. The admiral was a stone-faced secret police chief, personally groomed to be the successor to the decrepit Francisco Franco. His car blew up, killing only him and his chauffeur with a carefully planted charge, and not only was the world well rid of another fascist, but, more important, the whole scheme of extending Franco's rule was vaporized in the same instant. The dictator had to turn instead to Crown Prince Juan Carlos, who turned out to be the best Bourbon in history and who swiftly dismantled Franco's entire system. If this action was 'terrorism,' it had something to be said for it. Everyone I knew in Spain made a little holiday in their hearts when the gruesome admiral went sky-high.”
― Christopher Hitchens, Christopher Hitchens and His Critics: Terror, Iraq, and the Left

“Wolves regularly attacked their rivals in power, so the idea of killing to gain position was neither alien nor repulsive to her. The use of assassins she had filed as yet another of the curious tools - like swords and bows — that humans created to make up for their lack of personal armament. What she still had to puzzle through was the subtle strategies involved in killing those who were expected to inherit power rather than those who held the power itself.”
― Jane Lindskold, Through Wolf's Eyes

“In 1914, Franz Ferdinand, the Austrian imperial heir, was shot and killed by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo. Do you know the motive behind the act?

It was in retaliation for the subjugation of the Sebs in Austria.

It was not.Franz Ferdinand had stated his intention to introduce reforms favorable to the Serbs in his empire. Had he survived to ascend the throne, he would have made a revolution unnecessary. In plain terms, he was killed because he was going to give the rebels what they were shouting for. They needed a despot in the palace in order to seize it.

What's good for reform is bad for the reformers”
― Loren D. Estleman, Gas City

“I killed the President because he was the enemy of the good people-the good working people. I am not sorry for my crime. I am sorry I could not see my father.”
― Leon Czolgosz

“Those who wish to be feared seem to forget humanity's tendency to kill those they fear.”
― Wayne Gerard Trotman

“The prevailing opinion among historians, ancient and modern alike, is that the senatorial assassins were intent upon restoring republican liberties by doing away with a despotic usurper. This is the justification offered by the assassins themselves. I present an alternative explanation: The Senate aristocrats killed Caesar because they perceived him to be a popular leader who threatened their privileged interests.”
― Michael Parenti, The Assassination of Julius Caesar: A People's History of Ancient Rome

“Confederates called Lincoln a dictator and fanatic who must be stopped by any means, including 'revolution or private assassination.”
― Teri Kanefield, Abraham Lincoln: The Making of America #3

“Being mysterious and not being courteous are the causes of major assassinations in a nation”
― P.S. Jagadeesh Kumar

“The true endurance of a person is not in assassinating the life of people howbeit in saving the life of people”
― P.S. Jagadeesh Kumar

“The true endurance of a person is not in assassinating the life of people howbeit in saving the lives of people”
― P.S. Jagadeesh Kumar

“This country, America, has been around for over 240 years and we have never had one president who was assassinated by a person with no ties to the U.S. government.”
― James Thomas Kesterson Jr

“What A Wonderful World”
― Bob Thiele/George David Weiss

“The Grants will make their train. Julia is so eager to leave town that she has chosen the local, which takes thirteen long hours to reach Burlington. The faster option would be the seven-thirty express in the morning, but that would mean a night at the theater with the daft and unbalanced Mary Lincoln. Julia Grant's mind is made up.

What Ulysses S. Grant does not know is that he will be returning to Washington by the same train within twenty-four hours.”
― Bill O'Reilly & Martin Dugard

“Some Cutting Advice by Stewart Stafford

Before you pick up your knife,
To run your enemy through,
Know the entry wound bleeds red,
And the exit thrust bleeds blue.

Not because they are of noble birth,
But they are protected by a mighty hand,
Not just of those moneyed and influential,
But the mightiest hands in all the land.

So stab with caution, I urge you,
For the blade jabs back in your gut,
Swallow the bile that fuels you so,
Lest it be your throat you cut.

© Stewart Stafford, 2022. All rights reserved.”
― Stewart Stafford

“In This Darkness by Stewart Stafford

A limo drove through mansion gates,
Rock star John saw her wait again,
Hysterically begging for autographs,
The gates closed behind the limo.

John said stop, and exited the car,
"I'll sign it for you tomorrow, 100%,"
"No," she said, "sign tonight... now,"
He strode towards his home gates.

He rummaged in his coat pockets,
Ripping a cigarette packet to sign,
He found a tiny pencil in his pants,
Trailing breath vapour in the night.

"I can't see you in this darkness,"
A chilling laugh from the fan's side,
Three muzzle flashes, John died,
Contorted on a bloody driveway.

© Stewart Stafford, 2022. All rights reserved.”
― Stewart Stafford

“You will not interfere with me?

No.

Well, I'm glad that's settled. Now I don't have to crack open your skull and claim the eldar did it.”
― Josh Reynolds, Fabius Bile: The Omnibus

“And so saw, by a trick, an angle, a flaring of torchlight far down the dark river, how the arrow—white-feathered, she would remember, white as innocence, as winter in midsummer, as death—fell from the summit of its long, high arc to take the coran in the shoulder, driving him, slack and helpless, from the rope into the river amid laughter turned to screaming in the night.”
― Guy Gavriel Kay, A Song for Arbonne

“I Am The Cobra by Stewart Stafford

A prisoner in his distant brain,
Drowning man courts stardom,
Became an ass in assassination,
A zilch begetting zilch ad infinitum.

Helicopter Christian and Satanist,
Cauliflower man, now a cabbage,
In judgement, cutting off phonies,
Blind to himself in lost daydreams.

In the cobra's deadly surprise strike,
The attacker's venom splashed back,
Bars in his head now physical restraints,
A malingering, slow death from snakebite.

© Stewart Stafford, 2022. All rights reserved.”
― Stewart Stafford

“A missed opportunity? It is like surviving an assassination attempt.”
― Ljupka Cvetanova, Yet Another New Land

“He remained spotless in his career. he always wore gloves and a muffler”
― Ljupka Cvetanova, Yet Another New Land

“Why is a police officer allowed to kill someone that has not fired their gun?”
― Steven Magee