Michael Moore: Quotes about people

“I don't agree with the copyright laws, and I don't have a problem with people downloading the movie and sharing it with people… as long as they're not doing it to make a profit off it as long as they're not, you know trying to make a profit off my labor”

Michael Moore

2004
Context: I don't agree with the copyright laws, and I don't have a problem with people downloading the movie and sharing it with people… as long as they're not doing it to make a profit off it as long as they're not, you know trying to make a profit off my labor — I would oppose that but you know I do quite well, and I don't know... I make these books and movies and TV shows because I want things to change, and so the more people who get to see them, the better. And so I'm…I'm happy I'm happy if that happens. Should I not be happy? I don't know, It's like if a friend of yours had the DVD of my movie — gave it to you to watch one night is that person doing something wrong? I'm not seeing any money from that, but he's just handing the DVD to you so that you can watch my movie, that he bought, and you're not buying it — and yet you're watching it without paying me any money you see, I think that's OK, I mean, that's always been okay right? — You share things with people and I think information, and art, and ideas should be shared.

After being asked what he thought about his films being pirated on the internet, in a press conference (July 2004) (YouTube video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlAB0v8wHdc, quoted in

People , Law , Problem

“I think that's OK, I mean, that's always been okay right? — You share things with people and I think information, and art, and ideas should be shared.”

Michael Moore

After being asked what he thought about his films being pirated on the internet, in a press conference (July 2004) (YouTube video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlAB0v8wHdc, quoted in
2004
Context: I don't agree with the copyright laws, and I don't have a problem with people downloading the movie and sharing it with people… as long as they're not doing it to make a profit off it as long as they're not, you know trying to make a profit off my labor — I would oppose that but you know I do quite well, and I don't know... I make these books and movies and TV shows because I want things to change, and so the more people who get to see them, the better. And so I'm…I'm happy I'm happy if that happens. Should I not be happy? I don't know, It's like if a friend of yours had the DVD of my movie — gave it to you to watch one night is that person doing something wrong? I'm not seeing any money from that, but he's just handing the DVD to you so that you can watch my movie, that he bought, and you're not buying it — and yet you're watching it without paying me any money you see, I think that's OK, I mean, that's always been okay right? — You share things with people and I think information, and art, and ideas should be shared.

People , Art , Idea , Thinking

“Early talk was that anti-Bush people would go see it and pro-Bush people would stay home, and that's not the case. Most people do not go around with labels. A lot of Republicans have open minds.”

Michael Moore

On the movie Fahrenheit 9/11 — Zap2it.com (27 June 2004)
2004, Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)

People , Home

“Nothing would make me happier than to have you share it with everyone you know. All surveys have shown that, the more people who see it — especially those still sitting on the fence — the more likely we will have regime change.”

Michael Moore

[Fahrenheit 9/11 Out On Home Video/DVD Today! Pass it Around..., MichaelMoore.com, 5 October 2004, http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mikes-letter/fahrenheit-911-out-on-home-videodvd-today-pass-it-around]
On the DVD release of Fahrenheit 9/11
2004

People , Change

“I stopped reading the comics page a long time ago. It seems that whoever is in charge of what to put on that page is given an edict that states: “For God’s sake, try to be as bland as possible and by no means offend any one!” Thus, whenever something like Doonesbury would come along, it would be continually censored and, if lucky, eventually banished to the editorial pages. The message was clear: Keep it simple, keep it cute, and don’t be challenging, outrageous or political.
And keep it white!
It’s odd that considering all the black ink that goes into making the comics section (and color on Sundays) that you rarely see any black faces on that page. Well, maybe it’s not so odd after all, considering the makeup of most newsrooms in our country. It is even more stunning when you consider that in many of our large cities like New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago where the white population is barely a third of the overall citizenry, the comics pages seem to be one of the last vestiges of the belief that white faces are just…well, you know…so much more happy and friendly and funny!
Of course, the real funnies are on the front pages of most papers these days. That’s where you can see a lot of black faces. The media loves to cover black people on the front page. After all, when you live in a society that will lock up 30 percent of all black men at some time in their lives and send more of them to prison than to college, chances are a fair number of those black faces will end up in the newspaper.
Oops, there I go playing the race card. You see, in America these days, we aren’t supposed to talk about race. We have been told to pretend that things have gotten better, that the old days of segregation and cross burnings are long gone, and that no one needs to talk about race again because, hey, we fixed that problem.
Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. Sure, the “whites only” signs are down, but they have just been replaced by invisible ones that, if you are black, you see hanging in front of the home loan department of the local bank, across the entrance of the ritzy suburban or on the doors of the U. S. Senate”

Michael Moore

100 percent Caucasian and going strong!
Foreword to "The Boondocks Treasury: a Right to be Hostile" by Aaron McGruder, (2003).
2003

Love , Men , God , People

“White people scare the crap out of me… I have never been attacked by a black person, never been evicted by a black person, never had my security deposit ripped off by a black landlord, never had a black landlord… never been pulled over by a black cop, never been sold a lemon by a black car salesman, never seen a black car salesman, never had a black person deny me a bank loan, never had a black person bury my movie, and I've never heard a black person say, "We're going to eliminate ten thousand jobs here — have a nice day!"”

Michael Moore

[Stupid White Men ...and Other Excuses For the State of the Nation!, 2001, 0060392452, 49040476]
2001

People , Cars , Personality

“They are possibly the dumbest people on the planet… in thrall to conniving, thieving, smug pricks. We Americans suffer from an enforced ignorance. We don't know about anything that's happening outside our country. Our stupidity is embarrassing. National Geographic produced a survey which showed that 60 percent of 18-25 year olds don't know where Great Britain is on a map. And 92 percent of us don't own a passport.”

Michael Moore

On the American public, as quoted in "The Awkward Conscience of a Nation" in The Daily Mirror (3 November 2003); also partly quoted in "The company they keep" by Michael Barone, in U.S.News & World Report (12 July 2004) http://www.usnews.com/usnews/opinion/articles/040712/12barone.htm
2004

People , Stupidity , Suffering , Country

“There is a lot of talk amongst Bush's opponents that we should turn this war over to the United Nations. Why should the other countries of this world, countries who tried to talk us out of this folly, now have to clean up our mess? I oppose the U. N. or anyone else risking the lives of their citizens to extract us from our debacle. I'm sorry, but the majority of Americans supported this war once it began and, sadly, that majority must now sacrifice their children until enough blood has been let that maybe — just maybe — God and the Iraqi people will forgive us in the end.”

Michael Moore

[Heads Up... from Michael Moore, MichaelMoore.com, 14 April 2004, http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mikes-letter/heads-up-from-michael-moore]
2004

God , War , Children , People

“A lot of political people, especially people on the left, have forgotten the importance of humor as an incredible weapon, and a vehicle through which to affect change.”

Michael Moore

The Corporation (2004)
2004

People , Change

“Our young people who go off to war and who join the service, we need to honor them because they're willing to risk their lives to protect us, to defend us, so we can have this way of life. And the agreement that they make with us is that we never send them into harm's way unless it is absolutely necessary. I think most Americans — I just saw the latest poll today — 54% now believe that invading Iraq wasn't the wisest thing to do — it wasn't certainly in self-defense. You weren't threatened; I wasn't being threatened, and that's the only time, because ultimately if it was your child…would you give up your child to secure Fallujah?”

Michael Moore

On the television program Late Night with Conan O'Brien (25 June 2004)
2004

Life , War , People , Way

“Should such an ignorant people lead the world? How did it come to this in the first place? 82 percent of us don't even have a passport! Just a handful can speak a language other than English”

Michael Moore

and we don't even speak that very well.
On Americans in an Open Letter to the German publication Die Zeit (11 June 2003) (published in German) http://www.zeit.de/2003/46/AbdruckMoor
2003

People , World

“I want to thank all the right-wing organizations out there who tried to stop the film, either from their harassment campaign that didn't work on the theatre owners, or going to the FEC to get our ads removed from television, to all the things that have been said on television. It's only encouraged more people to go and see it. We are happy to announce that the efforts of the small-minded few have failed miserably.”

Michael Moore

On the movie Fahrenheit 9/11 breaking box office records. — Zap2it.com (27 June 2004) http://www.zap2it.com/movies/go?path=/movies/news/story&general_id=22014
2004, Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)

People , Effort , Happiness

“There's a gullible side to the American people. They can be easily misled. Religion is the best device used to mislead them.”

Michael Moore

The capped crusader, The Guardian, 4 October 2003, Gary, Younge http://www.guardian.co.uk/michaelmoore/story/0,,1055591,00.html,
2003

People , Religion

“You've got the Bush Administration using that event in such a disrespectful and immoral way — using the deaths of those people to try and shred our civil liberties, change our Constitution, round people up. That's not how you honor them, by using them to change our way of life as a free country.”

Michael Moore

On the use of the September 11th attacks to expand governmental powers and diminish civil liberties, through "The Patriot Act". — CBS interview (June 2004) http://news4colorado.com/topstories/topstories_story_179195105.html
2004, Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)

Life , Death , People , Way

“How about that McDonalds two blocks from Ground Zero? That's killed more people than the nineteen hijackers.”

Michael Moore

On HBO's "Real Time" http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2010/09/18/michael-moore-mcdonalds-ground-zero-killed-more-people-9-11-hijackers#ixzz0zzGIpSLV (September 17, 2010)
2010

People

“Many families have been devastated tonight. This is just not right. They did not deserve to die. … If someone did this to get back at Bush, then they did so by killing thousands of people who DID NOT VOTE for him. Boston, New York, D. C., and the planes' destination of California — these were the places that voted AGAINST Bush.”

Michael Moore

Statement of 12 September 2001 attributed to Moore, as published in [Michael Moore, Humbug, City Journal, Summer 2003, Kay S., Hymowitz, http://www.city-journal.org/html/13_3_michael_moore.html]
2001

People , Family

“No, Mr. Bush, you just stay the course. It's not your fault that 30 percent of New Orleans lives in poverty or that tens of thousands had no transportation to get out of town. C'mon, they're black! I mean, it's not like this happened to Kennebunkport. Can you imagine leaving white people on their roofs for five days? Don't make me laugh! Race has nothing — NOTHING — to do with this!”

Michael Moore

[Vacation is Over... an open letter from Michael Moore to George W. Bush, MichaelMoore.com, 2 September 2005, http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mikes-letter/vacation-is-over-an-open-letter-from-michael-moore-to-george-w-bush]
2005

People , Imagination

“The stories of the pharmaceutical companies and the health insurance companies is told. My film acts as a balance. I exist to provide balance, and I tell you, it isn't much balance. They're on every day, all day. My film is two hours. If for two hours during this entire year, people are exposed to the other side of the story, isn't that ok? It's amazing how they go after me. You asked me back there, 'You're biased. You have only one side.' Well, yeah, I have a bias. I have a bias on behalf of the little guy who doesn't have a say. I'm lucky enough to be able to have this bully pulpit, to be able to say the things I say, on behalf of the people who don't have a voice. The pharmaceutical companies and corporate America, they've got their voice. They own the networks and they can say whatever they want, all the time, and they do. So can we just have two hours for this side to have their say? I hope so, I think so. That's what I'm trying to do.”

Michael Moore

Press conference in New York, as quoted in CommingSoon (June 2007) http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=21257
2007

People , Health , Hope , Guy

“Guns don't kill people – Americans kill people.”

Michael Moore

Michael Moore on The Ed Show, MSNBC, March 22, 2012 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JVORszwdNA
2012

People

“I know a lot of people in Michigan that are planning to vote for Trump and they don't necessarily like him that much, and they don't necessarily agree with him. They're not racist or rednecks, they're actually pretty decent people…”

Michael Moore

Michael Moore In Trumpland https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYZqnc-zY5o, film's premiere (October 18, 2016), “Supporters see Trump as ‘human Molotov cocktail’: Michael Moore https://torontosun.com/2016/10/25/supporters-see-trump-as-human-molotov-cocktail-michael-moore/wcm/80ac8ac8-6c3d-4b29-bcae-498b25f4f408,” Toronto Sun, (Oct. 25, 2016)
2016

People