Quotes about terrorism
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D.J. MacHale photo

“I'm the terrorist, do what I say or I'll terrorize you.”

Source: Raven Rise

Chi­ma­man­da Ngo­zi Adi­chie photo
Paulo Coelho photo
Paulo Coelho photo
Dave Barry photo
Glenn Greenwald photo
Charles Bukowski photo
Glenn Greenwald photo

“The fact thatis the word we use for almost everything—on terrorism, drugs, even poverty—has certainly helped to desensitize us to its invocation; if we wage wars on everything, how bad can they be?”

Glenn Greenwald (1967) American journalist, lawyer and writer

Source: A Tragic Legacy: How a Good vs. Evil Mentality Destroyed the Bush Presidency

Richard Matheson photo
Winston S. Churchill photo
Daniel Handler photo
Max Brooks photo

“The greater a child’s terror, and the earlier it is experienced, the harder it becomes to develop a strong and healthy sense of self.”

Nathaniel Branden (1930–2014) Canadian–American psychotherapist and writer

Source: Six Pillars of Self-Esteem

Howard Zinn photo

“We need to decide that we will not go to war, whatever reason is conjured up by the politicians or the media, because war in our time is always indiscriminate, a war against innocents, a war against children. War is terrorism, magnified a hundred times.”

Howard Zinn (1922–2010) author and historian

"The Old Way of Thinking" http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Zinn/Old_Way_Thinking.html, in The Progressive (November 2001)

Thomas Hardy photo
Gustave Flaubert photo
Yann Martel photo
Laurell K. Hamilton photo
Donna Tartt photo
Donna Tartt photo

“Beauty is terror. Whatever we call beautiful, we quiver before it.”

Variant: It's a very Greek idea, and a very profound one. Beauty is terror. Whatever we call beautiful, we quiver before it.
Source: The Secret History

Grant Morrison photo

“From now on, I'm opting for ontological terrorism.”

Grant Morrison (1960) writer

Source: The Invisibles, Vol. 6: Kissing Mister Quimper

Charlie Huston photo
Margaret Cho photo
Anaïs Nin photo
Salman Rushdie photo

“How do you defeat terrorism? Don’t be terrorized.”

Salman Rushdie (1947) British Indian novelist and essayist

Source: Step Across This Line: Collected Nonfiction 1992-2002

Norman Mailer photo

“We are all so guilty at the way we have allowed the world around us to become more ugly and tasteless every year that we surrender to terror and steep ourselves in it.”

Norman Mailer (1923–2007) American novelist, journalist, essayist, playwright, film maker, actor and political candidate

Source: In the Belly of the Beast: Letters From Prison

James Patterson photo

“Gazzy: Captain, like the captain of a ship. And then Terror, you know, T-E-R-O-R.”

James Patterson (1947) American author

Source: School's Out—Forever

James Baldwin photo
Noam Chomsky photo

“Wanton killing of innocent civilians is terrorism, not a "war against terrorism."”

9-11, 2001 https://web.archive.org/web/20061015103427/http://indymedia.org.nz/usermedia/application/2/9-11.pdf
Quotes 2000s, 2001

Frank Herbert photo
George W. Bush photo

“One of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq with the war on terror.”

George W. Bush (1946) 43rd President of the United States

September 7, 2006 interview with Katie Couric http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhR04RkBFhs YouTube
2000s, 2006

Anthony Doerr photo
Rachel Caine photo
Gabriel García Márquez photo
Stephen King photo
Don DeLillo photo

“Stories have no point if they don't absorb our terror.”

Part 2, Ch. 10
Source: Mao II (1991)

Dan Brown photo
Richard Matheson photo
Rachel Caine photo

“Trav, if you cross us -- "
"I know. You'll get me. I'll try not to pee all over myself in terror.”

Rachel Caine (1962) American writer

Source: Midnight Alley

George Santayana photo

“Let a man once overcome his selfish terror at his own finitude, and his finitude is, in one sense, overcome.”

George Santayana (1863–1952) 20th-century Spanish-American philosopher associated with Pragmatism

Introduction to The Ethics of Spinoza (1910)

Jane Collins photo
Tenzin Gyatso photo
Wesley Clark photo
Franklin D. Roosevelt photo
Philip Roth photo
Elie Wiesel photo

“Terrorism must be outlawed by all civilized nations — not explained or rationalized, but fought and eradicated. Nothing can, nothing will justify the murder of innocent people and helpless children.”

Elie Wiesel (1928–2016) writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Laureate, and Holocaust survivor

Hope, Despair, and Memory (1986)

Amir Taheri photo

“[Islamic terrorism] is different from all other forms of terrorism in at least three important respects. First, it rejects all the contemporary ideologies in their various forms; it sees itself as the total outsider with no option but to take control or to fall, gun in hand. It cannot even enter into talks with other terrorist movements which may, in some specific cases at least, share its tactical objectives. Considering itself as an expression of Islamic revival - which must, by definition, lead to the conquest of the entire globe by the True Faith - it bases all its actions on the dictum that the end justifies the means… The second characteristic that distinguishes the Islamic version from other forms of terrorism is that it is clearly conceived and conducted as a form of Holy War which can only end when total victory has been achieved. The term 'low-intensity warfare' has often been used to describe terrorism, but it applies more specifically to the Islamic kind, which does not seek negotiations, give-and-take, the securing of specific concessions or even the mere seizure of political power within a certain number of countries… The third specific characteristic of Islamic terrorism is that it forms the basis of a whole theory of both individual conduct and of state policy. To kill the enemies of Allah and to offer the infidels the choice between converting to Islam or being put to death is the duty of every individual believer as well as the supreme - if not the sole - task of the Islamic state.”

Amir Taheri (1942) Iranian journalist

Holy Terror: The inside story of Islamic terrorism (1987)

Jalal Talabani photo

“I agree with him that we are going to work together for having this strategic agreement between United States and Iraq, and also to continue our cooperation in our struggle against terrorism and for promotion of democracy in Iraq and in Middle East.”

Jalal Talabani (1933–2017) Iraqi politician

Statement made at a meeting with President George W. Bush — reported in Olivier Knox (June 25, 2008) "Bush, Talabani work on US-Iraq security pact", Agence France-Presse.

Tony Abbott photo

“Although most Muslims utterly reject terrorism, some are all too ready to justify “death to the infidel.””

Tony Abbott (1957) Australian politician

2015, The religion of Islam must reform (December 9, 2015)

Arundhati Roy photo

“These horrific murders are only a symptom of a deeper malaise. Life is hell for the living too. Whole populations — millions of Dalits, Adivasis, Muslims and Christians — are being forced to live in terror, unsure of when and from where the assault will come.”

Arundhati Roy (1961) Indian novelist, essayist

Quoted in Was Arundhati Roy really misquoted by Pakistans... https://swarajyamag.com/ideas/was-arundhati-roy-really-misquoted-by-paks-un-rep-or-is-this-leftist-spin

Sheikh Hasina photo

“It was an extremely heinous act. What kind of Muslims are these people? They don't have any religion, their only religion is terrorism.”

Sheikh Hasina (1947) Prime Minister of Bangladesh

In a nationally televised speech after the 2016 Gulshan, Dhaka attack. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-36692613 (2 July 2016)

Newton Lee photo
Donald J. Trump photo

“We're importing radical Islamic terrorism into the West through a failed immigration system and through an intelligence community held back by our president.”

Donald J. Trump (1946) 45th President of the United States of America

2010s, 2016, June, Speech about the Orlando Shooting (June 13, 2016)

Jeremy Clarkson photo
Theodore Dreiser photo
Russ Feingold photo

“For so many who had been driven from their office buildings, these five weeks were only the prelude to spending months cloistered in cramped and inadequate office space while they advised senators on some of the toughest calls they would ever have to make … As the gap widened between perceptions of fear or danger in Washington and in much of the rest of the country, I believe it had a significant influence on why representatives reacted to terrorism concerns in a way that was fundamentally different from most of their constituents.”

Russ Feingold (1953) Wisconsin politician; three-term U.S. Senator

On the effects of the 2001 anthrax attacks, from While America Sleeps: A Wake-up Call for the Post-9/11 Era, as quoted in [Moyer, Justin, The speed read: ‘While America Sleeps,’ by Russ Feingold, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/we-read-so-you-dont-have-to-while-america-sleeps-by-russ-feingold/2012/02/28/gIQATdIszR_story.html?utm_term=.8231b88d08d1, 20 August 2018, The Washington Post, March 8, 2012]
2012

Kage Baker photo
Patricia A. McKillip photo
Mike Vallely photo
Edward St. Aubyn photo
Joanna Macy photo
Edgar Lee Masters photo
Andrew Sullivan photo
Bono photo
Manuel Valls photo

“France must live with terrorism, but we will not give in”

Manuel Valls (1962) French Socialist Party (PS) politician

la France doit vivre avec le terrorisme, mais nous ne céderons pas
Statement regarding Nice attacks https://www.rt.com/news/351228-valls-nice-statement-social-media/, Russia Today, 15 July 2016

Herbert Beerbohm Tree photo

“Sirs, I have tested your machine. It adds a new terror to life and makes death a long-felt want.”

Herbert Beerbohm Tree (1852–1917) English actor and theatre manager

Page 183
His reply to a gramophone company who had asked for a testimonial.
Beerbohm Tree (1956)

Donald J. Trump photo

“Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism, I don't want congrats, I want toughness & vigilance. We must be smart!”

Donald J. Trump (1946) 45th President of the United States of America

Twitter, 12 June 2016 https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/742034549232766976, after the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting
2010s, 2016, June

Benjamín Netanyahu photo

“The labeling of products of the Jewish state by the European Union brings back dark memories. Europe should be ashamed of itself. It took an immoral decision. Of the hundreds of territorial conflicts around the world, it chose to single out Israel and Israel alone, while it's fighting with its back against the wall against the wave of terror.”

Benjamín Netanyahu (1949) Israeli prime minister

As quoted in "EU: Products from West Bank and Golan cannot be labeled 'from Israel'" http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/11/europe/eu-labeling-israel-territories/ (11 November 2015), by Don Melvin and Oren Liebermann, CNN, State of Georgia: Cable News Network.
2010s, 2015

Abby Sunderland photo

“Terror ripped through me as I was falling, falling, falling toward the sea.”

Abby Sunderland (1993) Camera Assistant, Inspirational Speaker and Sailor

Source: Unsinkable: A Young Woman's Courageous Battle on the High Seas (2011), p. 123

Tom McCarthy (writer) photo
Aram Manukian photo

“In these conditions, our people can make miracles. I have often had the opportunity to realize that the sense of duty of our villagers is authentic. It is a sign of awareness. One call by the National Council is enough for him to leave his home and to rush to arms, when there is nothing that compels him to do so. At the time, the mobilization by the Russian government was always executed on the force of terror.”

Aram Manukian (1879–1919) Armenian revolutionary, politician and general who managed and led the Van Resistance and instrumented the …

On January 5, 1918, on the eve of Armenian Christmas. Attributed without citation in [Death of Aram Manoukian - January 29, 1919, http://thisweekinarmenianhistory.blogspot.com/2013/01/death-of-aram-manoukian-january-29-1919.html, thisweekinarmenianhistory.com, 29 January 2013, 15 March 2014]

J. Sheridan Le Fanu photo

“He has attained supremacy in one particular line: he succeeds in inspiring a mysterious terror better than any other writer.”

J. Sheridan Le Fanu (1814–1873) Irish writer of Gothic tales and mystery novels

M. R. James "The Novels and Stories of J. Sheridan Le Fanu" (1923). http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~pardos/ArchiveLeFanu.html
Criticism

Angela Davis photo
Carl I. Hagen photo
Gore Vidal photo
Charles Krauthammer photo
Robert D. Kaplan photo

“Wherever you have weakening states and turmoil, you will have a fertile petri dish for terrorism.”

Robert D. Kaplan (1952) American writer

Robert D. Kaplan, cited in: Steve Lamy, ‎John Masker (2016), Introduction to Global Politics. p. 232

Richard J. Evans photo
Jean-Paul Marat photo
Herbert Spencer photo

“Old forms of government finally grow so oppressive, that they must be thrown off even at the risk of reigns of terror.”

Herbert Spencer (1820–1903) English philosopher, biologist, sociologist, and prominent classical liberal political theorist

On Manners and Fashion
Essays on Education (1861)

George Soros photo

“How can we escape from the trap that the terrorists have set us? Only by recognizing that the war on terrorism cannot be won by waging war. We must, of course, protect our security; but we must also correct the grievances on which terrorism feeds. Crime requires police work, not military action.”

George Soros (1930) Hungarian-American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist

Address at the University of Pennsylvania (2002); quoted in "White House playing into Soros' hands?" by J. Michael Waller, in WorldNetDaily (1 December 2003) http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=35893

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury photo
Mitt Romney photo

“"Ultra-nationalism" stands naked as nothing but a euphemism for the worship of violence in service of autocratic goals - be they the terrorism and holy war of Islamic fundamentalists or the refusal of dictatorial systems to accept political democracy.”

Liu Xiaobo (1955–2017) Chinese literary critic, writer, professor, and human rights activist

"Bellicose and Thuggish: The Roots of Chinese "Patriotism" at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century" (2002)
No Enemies, No Hate: Selected Essays and Poems