Eric Hoffer - Noam Chomsky - Arthur Conan Doyle - Casablanca 1942 - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine TV - R A Fisher - Tony Benn - Laurence Sterne - Albert Einstein - William Wordsworth - Martin Luther King - Andrew Young - Arnold Bennett - Ben Jonson - John Osborne - William Shakespeare - William Howard Taft - Angelina Jolie - Abraham Lincoln - Albert Camus - Christopher Hitchens - Victor Hugo - Friedrich Nietzsche - Mahatma Gandhi – Robert Tressell - The Recruit 2003 - Battle in Seattle 2007 - Adam Curtis TV -
Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket. Eric Hoffer
What was the just cause in supporting Suharto? … What was the just cause when we invaded South Vietnam? … In Central America in the 1980s killing hundreds of thousands of people? … We did it, therefore it’s a just cause: you can read that in the Nazi archives too. Noam Chomsky, compilation ‘War, State Power, and American Exceptionalism’, Youtube The Essentials 2.43.03
‘By the way, Doctor, I shall want your cooperation.’
‘I shall be delighted.’
‘You don’t mind breaking the law?’
‘Not in the least.’
‘Nor running a chance of arrest?’
‘Not in a good cause.’
‘Oh, the cause is excellent!’
‘Then I am your man.’
‘I was sure that I might rely on you.’ Arthur Conan Doyle, A Scandal in Bohemia
I’m the only cause I’m interested in. Casablanca 1942 ***** starring Humphrey Bogart & Ingrid Bergman & Paul Henreid & Claude Rains & Conrad Veidt & Sydney Greenstreet & Peter Lorre & Curt Bois et al, director Michael Curtiz, Rick to Ilsa
There is something attractive about a lost cause. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine s5e23: Blaze of Glory, Sisko to Dax
The best causes tend to attract to their support the worst arguments. R A Fisher, 1890-1962
You have to try to build support around causes. It is uniting to campaign on a single issue, and it is never just a single issue; it’s always more than that. Tony Benn
’Tis known by the name of perseverance in a good cause, – and of obstinacy in a bad one. Laurence Sterne, Tristram Shandy
Only one who devotes himself to a cause with his whole strength and soul can be a true master. Albert Einstein
Nothing that I can do will change the structure of the universe. But maybe by raising my voice I can help the greatest of all causes – goodwill amongst men and peace on Earth. Albert Einstein
Plain living and high thinking are no more:
The homely beauty of the good old cause
Is gone. William Wordsworth
A man who won’t die for something is not fit to live. Martin Luther King
It is a blessing to die for a cause, because you can so easily die for nothing. Andrew Young
A cause may be inconvenient, but it’s magnificent. It’s like champagne or high heels, and one must be prepared to suffer for it. Arnold Bennett, 1867-1931, The Title act I, 1918
You have a gift, sir, (thank your education),
Will never let you want, while there are men,
And malice, to breed causes. Ben Jonson, Volpone, 1606
There aren’t any good, brave causes left. If the big bang does come, and we all get killed off, it won’t be in aid of the old-fashioned, grand design. It’ll just be for the Brave New-nothing-very-much-thank-you. About as pointless and inglorious as stepping in front of a bus. John Osborne, Look Back in Anger, 1956
What stronger breastplate than a heart untainted!
Thrice is he armed that hath his quarrel just,
And he but naked, though locked up in steel,
Whose conscience with injustice is corrupted. William Shakespeare, II Henry VI III ii 232
Most just and heavy causes make oppose. ibid. V i 29, Albany
But if the cause be not good, the King himself hath the heavy reckoning to make. Henry V 2012 starring Tim Hiddleston & Geraldine Chaplin & Paul Freeman & Julie Walters & John Hurt & Tom Georgeson & Richard Griffiths & Paterson Joseph & James Laurenson et al, director Thea Sharrock, soldier
Report me and my cause aright
To the unsatisfied. William Shakespeare, Hamlet V ii 353
Enthusiasm for a cause sometimes warps judgment. William Howard Taft
I’ve been reckless, but I’m not a rebel without a cause. Angelina Jolie
The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just. Abraham Lincoln
No matter what cause one defends, it will suffer permanent disgrace if one resorts to blind attacks on crowds of innocent people. Albert Camus
I sometimes wish I were suffering in a good cause, or risking my life for the good of others, instead of just being a gravely endangered patient. Christopher Hitchens
Strong and bitter words indicate a weak cause. Victor Hugo
The most perfidious way of harming a cause consists of defending it deliberately with faulty arguments. Friedrich Nietzsche
Intolerance betrays want of faith in one’s cause. Mahatma Gandhi
Truth never damages a cause that is just. Mahatma Gandhi
Usually after one of these arguments, Owen would wander off by himself, with his head throbbing and a feeling of unutterable depression and misery at his heart; weighed down by a growing conviction of the hopelessness of everything, of the folly of expecting that his fellow workmen would ever be willing to try to understand for themselves the causes that produced their sufferings. It was not that those causes were so obscure that it required exceptional intelligence to perceive them. Robert Tressell, The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist
We believe in good and evil ... Our cause is just. Our enemies everywhere. The Recruit 2003 starring Al Pacino & Colin Farrell & Bridget Moynahan & Gabriel Macht & Kenneth Mitchell & Mike Realba & Ron Lea & Karl Pruner & Jeanie Calleja et al, director Roger Donaldson
1947: shortly after the close of World War II 23 nations signed a general agreement on tariffs and trade: GATT. Battle in Seattle 2007 starring Woody Harrelson & Andre Benjamin & Jennifer Carpenter & Martin Henderson & Ray Liotta & Connie Nielsen & Michelle Rodriguez & Channing Tatum & Charlize Theron et al, director Stuart Townsend
It has very little to do with trade and it is certainly not free. ibid. her
Of course we’re going to get hurt. What do you think this is? Protests get me excited and depressed at the same time. ibid. her to him
I am watching a completely unprovoked attack by police here in downtown Seattle. ibid. Jean
The Battle in Seattle turns into a war. ibid.
How do they keep putting themselves on the line like that, for a cause they can’t win? ibid. Jean
Isn’t it time that people mattered more than profit? ibid. Medicine sans Frontiers bloke
People are protesting with us in thirty cities across the world. ibid. protester
Thanks WTO It’s Been A Riot. ibid. cinema sign
2003: As the WTO floods local markets with imports, 40,000 Indian farmers commit suicide to escape their debt. ibid. caption