1. Quotes
  2. Authors
  3. Jim Jones

Jim Jones Quotes

James Warren Jones was an American religious and cult leader, who initiated, and was responsible for a mass suicide and mass murder in Jonestown, Guyana. He believed communism was the correct social order, in compliance with God's will. Jones was ordained as a Disciples of Christ pastor, and he achieved notoriety as the founder and leader of the Peoples Temple, which was often described as having cult-like qualities.

In 1978, media reports surfaced that human rights abuses were taking place in Peoples Temple's Jonestown, Guyana headquarters. United States Congressman Leo Ryan led a delegation into the commune to investigate what was going on; Ryan and others were murdered by gunfire while boarding a return flight with defectors. Jones subsequently committed a mass murder-suicide of 918 of his followers in Jonestown, Guyana. Nearly three hundred children were murdered, almost all of them by cyanide poisoning via a Flavor Aid and Kool-Aid mix. This historical episode gave rise to the ubiquitous American-English expression "drinking the Kool-Aid".

Jones started the People's Temple in Indiana during the 1950s. He later moved the Temple to California in the mid-1960s, and gained notoriety with its activities in San Francisco in the early 1970s.

✵ 13. May 1931 – 18. November 1978
Jim Jones photo
Jim Jones: 8   quotes 7   likes

Famous Jim Jones Quotes

“If we can't live in peace, then let's die in peace.”

Jim Jones

" Death Tape http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/Tapes/Tapes/DeathTape/Q042fbi.html" FBI No. Q042 (18 November 1978)

“If you're born in capitalist America, racist America, fascist America, then you're born in sin. But if you're born in socialism, you're not born in sin.”

Jim Jones

Jones, Jim. "The Letter Killeth." Original material reprint. Department of Religious Studies. San Diego State

“If my wife said, I’m not going to be a communist, I’d say, well, forget it, by God, I’ll forget you too.”

Jim Jones

" http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/Tapes/Tapes/TapeTranscripts/Q265.html" FBI No. Q265 (17 October 1978)

“Take our life from us. We laid it down. We got tired. We didn't commit suicide. We committed an act of revolutionary suicide protesting the conditions of an inhumane world.”

Jim Jones

Source: Last words on " Death Tape http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/Tapes/Tapes/DeathTape/Q042fbi.html" FBI No. Q042 (18 November 1978)

“I'd like to choose my own kind of death, for a change. I'm tired of being tormented to hell. Tired of it.”

Jim Jones

" Death Tape http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/Tapes/Tapes/DeathTape/Q042fbi.html" FBI No. Q042 (18 November 1978)

“The young preacher once threw his Bible to the floor and yelled at his associates, "Too many people are looking at this instead of looking at me!"”

Jim Jones

Time Magazine, December 4, 1978, Messiah from the Midwest http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,912250-3,00.html

“My whole life I have suffered from poverty and have faced many disappointments and pain, like a man is used to. That is why I want to make other people happy and want them to feel at home.”

Jim Jones

(1978). Translated back from Dutch to English, indirectly sourced, Messiahs: The vision and prophecies for the Second coming by John Hogue

“Son of a bitchin’ no good lousy ass anarchistic capitalist bitch. That’s what I say about my relatives, but you won’t say it.”

Jim Jones

" http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/Tapes/Tapes/TapeTranscripts/Q265.html" FBI No. Q265 (17 October 1978)

Similar authors

Morihei Ueshiba photo
Morihei Ueshiba 50
founder of aikido
Stephen R. Covey photo
Stephen R. Covey 125
American educator, author, businessman and motivational spe…
Rajneesh photo
Rajneesh 76
Godman and leader of the Rajneesh movement
Rick Warren photo
Rick Warren 90
Christian religious leader
Tenzin Gyatso photo
Tenzin Gyatso 112
spiritual leader of Tibet
L. Ron Hubbard photo
L. Ron Hubbard 85
American science fiction author, philosopher, cult leader, …
Mahatma Gandhi photo
Mahatma Gandhi 238
pre-eminent leader of Indian nationalism during British-rul…
Steve Jobs photo
Steve Jobs 150
American entrepreneur and co-founder of Apple Inc.
Martin Luther King, Jr. photo
Martin Luther King, Jr. 658
American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Ci…
Leon Trotsky photo
Leon Trotsky 106
Marxist revolutionary from Russia