Abbie Hoffman Quotes

You measure a democracy by the freedom it gives its dissidents, not the freedom it gives its assimilated conformists.

Democracy is not something you believe in or a place to hang your hat, but it's something you do. You participate. If you stop doing it, democracy crumbles.

You are talking to a leftist. I believe in the redistribution of wealth and power in the world. I believe in universal hospital care for everyone. I believe that we should not have a single homeless person in the richest country in the world. And I believe that we should not have a C.I.A. that goes around overwhelming governments and assassinating political leaders, working for tight oligarchies around the world to protect the tight oligarchy here at home.

It is always the young that make the change. You don't get these ideas when you're middle-aged. Young people have daring, creativity, imagination and personal computers. Above all, what you have as young people that's vitally needed to make social change, is impatience. You want it to happen now. There have to be enough people that say, ‘We want it now, in our lifetime.’ This is your moment. This is your opportunity. Be adventurists in the sense of being bold and daring. Be opportunists and seize this opportunity, this moment in history, to go out and save our country. It's your turn now.

I believe in compulsory cannibalism. If people were forced to eat what they killed, there would be no more wars.

I think we are constantly faced with the same decision. The decision to be blindly obedient to authority versus the decision to try and change things by fighting the powers that be is always, throughout history, the only decision.

Sacred cows make the tastiest hamburger.

The idea that media is there to educate us, or to inform us, is ridiculous because that's about tenth or eleventh on their list.

Avoid all needle drugs, the only dope worth shooting is Richard Nixon.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life.

The '60s are gone, dope will never be as cheap, sex never as free, and the rock and roll never as great.

My critique of democracy begins and ends with this point. Kids must be educated to disrespect authority or else democracy is a farce.

Peace is a very complicated concept. When the lion gobbles up the lamb and wipes his lips, then there's peace. Well, I ain't for that peace at all.

Maintain a sense of humor. People who take themselves too seriously are power-crazy. If they win it will be haircuts for all. Beware of power freaks.

Never impose your language on people you wish to reach.

The best way to educate oneself is to become part of the revolution.

I just want to do what has to be done so much. I'll never understand why everyone else doesn't feel this way.

Revolution is not something fixed in ideology, nor is it something fashioned to a particular decade. It is a perpetual process embedded in the human spirit.

I learned one thing; you never do anything for fame or money. You only do things 'cause they're fun or good. If you can combine the two at the same time, you can make a contribution to the world and have a lot of happiness.

Action is the only reality; not only reality, but morality as well.

Free speech means the right to shout 'theatre' in a crowded fire.

There is absolutely no greater high than challenging the power structure as a nobody, giving it your all, and winning. I think I've learned that lesson twice now. The essence of successful revolution, be it for an individual, a community of individuals, or a nation, depends on accepting that challenge.

It's embarrassing when you try to overthrow the government and you wind up on the Best Seller's List.

Smoking dope and hanging up Che's picture is no more a commitment than drinking milk and collecting postage stamps.

I think the greatest legacy of the 1960s was the general feeling that not only can you fight the powers that be, but you can win.