Michael Ignatieff Quotes
- The [Afghans] understand the difficult truth that their best hope of freedom lies in a temporary experience of imperial rule. - View Quote Details on The [Afghans] understand the difficult truth that their best hope…
- Ever since I entered Parliament in January, people have been asking me: Why have you gone into politics? As in: “Are you nuts?” No, I’m not nuts. This is my country, after all. - View Quote Details on Ever since I entered Parliament in January, people have been…
- Until George W. Bush, no American president — not even Franklin Roosevelt or Woodrow Wilson — actually risked his presidency on the premise that Jefferson might be right. But this gambler from Texas has bet his place in history on the proposition, as he stated in a speech in March, that decades of American presidents’ excusing and accommodating tyranny, in the pursuit of stability in the Middle East inflamed the hatred of the fanatics who piloted the planes into the twin towers on Sept. 11. If democracy plants itself in Iraq and spreads throughout the Middle East, Bush will be remembered as a plain-speaking visionary. - View Quote Details on Until George W. Bush, no American president — not even…
- The Only cure for nihilism is for liberal democratic societies - their electorates, their judiciary, and their political leadership- to insist that force is legitimate only to the degree that it serves defensible poltical goals. Thus implies a constant exercise of due diligence… - View Quote Details on The Only cure for nihilism is for liberal democratic societies…
- The dilemmas here are best illustrated by looking closely at pre-emptive war. It is a lesser evil because, according to our traditional understanding of war, the only justified resort to war is a response to actual aggression. But those standards are outdated. They were conceived for wars against states and their armies, not for wars against terrorists and suicide bombers. Against this kind of enemy, everyone can see that instead of waiting for terrorists to hit us, it makes sense to get our retaliation in first. - View Quote Details on The dilemmas here are best illustrated by looking closely at…
- A liberal society cannot be defended by herbivores. We need carnivores to save us, but we had better make sure the meat-eaters hunt only on our orders. - View Quote Details on A liberal society cannot be defended by herbivores. We need…
- The difference between us and terrorists is supposed to be that we play by these rules, even if they don’t. No, I haven’t forgotten Hiroshima and My Lai. The American way of war has often been brutal, but at least our warriors are supposed to fight with honor and can be punished if they don’t. There is no warrior’s honor among terrorists. - View Quote Details on The difference between us and terrorists is supposed to be…
- I believe in Canadians. I believe in you. As I said at the beginning, we are a serious people. - View Quote Details on I believe in Canadians. I believe in you. As I…
- To defeat evil, we may have to traffic in evils: indefinite detention of suspects, coercive interrogations, targeted assassinations, even pre-emptive war. - View Quote Details on To defeat evil, we may have to traffic in evils:…
- I’m in politics to speak up for a Canada that takes risks, that stands up for what’s right. A Canada that leads. - View Quote Details on I’m in politics to speak up for a Canada that…
- It was Reagan who began the realignment of American politics, making the Republicans into internationalist Jeffersonians with his speech in London at the Palace of Westminster in 1982, which led to the creation of the National Endowment for Democracy and the emergence of democracy promotion as a central goal of United States foreign policy. - View Quote Details on It was Reagan who began the realignment of American politics,…
About Michael Ignatieff
Michael Grant Ignatieff, M.P., Ph.D, M.A., B.A. (born May 12, 1947 in Toronto, Ontario) is a noted Canadian scholar, novelist and Liberal Member of Parliament in the Canadian House of Commons.
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