44 Quotes & Sayings By Michael Moore

Michael Moore is a filmmaker, author, and political activist who has been active in the political arena since the late 1970s. His first documentary film Roger & Me (1989) explored the economic and social impacts of General Motors' planned relocation of its production to Mexico. His later documentaries, including the Academy Award-winning Bowling for Columbine (2002), Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004), and Sicko (2007), have all become Rotten Tomatoes critics' top ten lists. He also directed and produced Fahrenheit 9/11, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary and won three Emmy Awards, and Sicko, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary and won a Peabody Award Read more

Michael Moore lives in Michigan with his wife, Judy Moore, and two daughters.

[Bill] Clinton was a pretty good president for a Republican.
1
[Bill] Clinton was a pretty good president for a Republican. Michael Moore
A government run by billionaires for billionaires is an affront...
2
A government run by billionaires for billionaires is an affront to freedom, morality, and humanity. Michael Moore
3
One thing I learned as a journalist is that there is at least one disgruntled person in every workplace in America -- and at least double that number with a conscience. Hard as they try, they simply can't turn their heads away from an injustice when they see one taking place. Michael Moore
4
..I have a theory about why and how all this has happened to you. Instead of having to earn it, you have been handed the presidency, the same way you've come by everything else in your life. Money and name alone have opened every door for you. Without effort or hard work or intelligence, or ingenuity, you have been bequeathed a life of privilege.. So it's no wonder you think you deserved to be named President. You didn't earn it or win it- therefore it must be yours! . Michael Moore
5
It was the American middle class. No one's house cost more than two or three year's salary, and I doubt the spread in annual wages (except for the osteopath) exceeded more than five thousand dollars. And other than the doctor (who made house calls), the store managers, the minister, the salesman, and the banker, everyone belonged to a union. That meant they worked a forty-hour week, had the entire weekend off (plus two to four weeks' paid vacation in the summer), comprehensive medical benefits, and job security. In return for all that, the country became the most productive in the world and in our little neighborhood it meant your furnace was always working, your kids could be dropped off at the neighbors without notice, you could run next door anytime to borrow a half-dozen eggs, and the doors to all the homes were never locked -- because who would need to steal anything if they already had all that they needed? . Michael Moore
6
How does paying people more money make you more money? It works like this. The more you pay your workers, the more they spend. Remember, they're not just your workers- they're your consumers, too. The more they spend their extra cash on your products, the more your profits go up. Also, when employees have enough money that they don't have to live in constant fear of bankruptcy, they're able to focus more on their work- and be more productive. With fewer personal problems and less stress hanging over them, they'll lose less time at work, meaning more profits for you. Pay them enough to afford a late model car (i.e. one that works), and they'll rarely be late for work. And knowing that they'll be able to provide a better life for their children will not only give them a more positive attitude, it'll give them hope- and an incentive to do well for the company because the better the company does, the better they'll do. Of course, if you're like most corporations these days- announcing mass layoffs right after posting record profits- then you're already hemorrhaging the trust and confidence of your remaining workforce, and your employees are doing their jobs in a state of fear. Productivity will drop. That will hurt sales. You will suffer. Ask the people at Firestone: Ford has alleged that the tire company fired its longtime union employees, then brought in untrained scab workers who ended up making thousands of defective tires- and 203 dead customers later, Firestone is in the toilet. Michael Moore
7
I realized that this was the big secret of democracy -- that change can occur by starting off with just a few people doing something. Michael Moore
8
Capitalism means that a few people will do very well, and the rest will serve the few. Michael Moore
9
For kids who are exposed to books at home, the loss of a library is sad. But for kids who come from environments where people don't read, the loss of a library is a tragedy hat might keep them from ever discovering the joys of reading-or from gathering the kind of information that will decide their lot in life. Michael Moore
10
The working people of the Flint area hated this rag, but it was our only daily so you read it. Everyone called it the "Flint Urinal." Editorially, the paper had historically been on the wrong side of every major social and political issue of the twentieth century -- "the wrong side" meaning: whatever side the union workers were on, the Urinal took the opposite position. Michael Moore
11
What really went wrong is that General Motors has had this philosophy from the beginning that what's good for General Motors is good for the country. So, their attitude was, 'We'll build it and you buy it. We'll tell you what to buy. You just buy it.' Michael Moore
12
I respect the fact that people have worked hard all week and want to go to the movies on the weekend and be entertained. Michael Moore
13
I've been encouraging documentary filmmakers to use more and more humor, and they're loath to do that because they think if it's a documentary it has to be deadly serious - it has to be like medicine that you're supposed to take. And I think it's what keeps the mass audience from going to documentaries. Michael Moore
14
When the women's liberation movement began, when people began protesting against the Vietnam War, civil rights movement, at the beginning of those movements, the majority of the country was not with them, did not believe in the basic principles of any of those philosophies. Michael Moore
15
We live in the time where we have fictitious election results that elects a fictitious president. We live in a time where we have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons. Michael Moore
16
Capitalism is an organized system to guarantee that greed becomes the primary force of our economic system and allows the few at the top to get very wealthy and has the rest of us riding around thinking we can be that way, too - if we just work hard enough, sell enough Tupperware and Amway products, we can get a pink Cadillac. Michael Moore
17
I do believe that we are to love our enemies and do good to those who persecute you. I believe that there is power and strength in that. Michael Moore
18
We as Americans believe it's OK to kill people. We believe it's OK to invade a country that had nothing to do with 9/11. We think it's OK to invade a country where we think Osama Bin Laden is and he's in the other country. So we just go in and we just kill. And we have the death penalty we sanction it. Michael Moore
19
If you believe in equality, if you believe in standing up for the rights of all, especially for people most affected by bigotry and discrimination, then you have no choice but to be present and accounted for when it comes to standing up for gays and lesbians in our society. Michael Moore
20
Oprah's got good politics, she's got a good heart, and she'll have us all up Jazzercising at six in the morning. This cannot be a bad thing, and reading a book while we're Jazzercising. So America would be better off if Oprah were president. Michael Moore
21
Republicans are relentless and they're smart, too - they're not all dumb - and on Election Day, they'll be up at five in the morning. Michael Moore
22
For my very first movie, 'Roger and Me, ' I made it as part of my deal with Warner Brothers that the four people that were evicted in that film, that Warner Brothers would house - would pay their mortgage or their rent for the next two years to give them a chance to get on their feet. Michael Moore
23
The No. 1 cause of bankruptcies is medical bills. Michael Moore
24
We have to see that we're a part of each other, and we have to take care of each other. The reason why they have universal health care in Canada and Britain, these other places? Because they believe if one suffers, everybody suffers. Michael Moore
25
My employees, there's no deductible in your health care. No deductible, absolutely not. You get paid sick days, as many as you need, personal days. Michael Moore
26
The American public believes that health care is a right and not a commodity. Michael Moore
27
If I were a capitalist I would not give my employees health insurance with no deductible, which I do, including dental, and paid pregnancy leave. That's not called capitalism, that's called being a Christian and someone who believes in democracy, so that everyone should get a fair slice of the pie. Michael Moore
28
The health insurance industry does not like to pay out claims, because they don't make money. The only way they can make a profit is if they don't pay for your operation. If they pay for your operation and your doctor's appointment and your pharmaceuticals, they don't make any money. Michael Moore
29
When I'm shooting a movie, I'm always in an invisible theater seat. I respect the fact that people have worked hard all week and want to go to the movies on the weekend and be entertained. Michael Moore
30
I think movies are too long. Michael Moore
31
Television has its own award. It's called the Emmy. It's a good award. I like it. I have one. But you don't see movies like 'The King's Speech' win Oscars and then go to TV and qualify for Emmys. In documentaries, some networks have been able to game the system. Michael Moore
32
A newspaper is a public trust, and we will suffer as a society without them. It is not the Internet that has killed them. It is their own greed, it is their own stupidity, and it is capitalism that has taken our daily newspapers from us. Michael Moore
33
My dad was an autoworker, my mom was a clerk. Until I was thirty-five, I never made more than fifteen thousand dollars a year. Michael Moore
34
All I ask is that you not be naive about how the government works when it decides to go after its prey. Michael Moore
35
Healthcare should be between the doctor and the patient. And if the doctor says something needs to be done, the government should guarantee it gets paid for. Michael Moore
36
People like me who grew up in a working-class town, who don't have a college education, you don't usually hear from us. Michael Moore
37
We should be licensing everybody with a gun. I have to have a license for my dog. I have to have a license for my car. If you're going to do my hair later you have to have a license... We don't require a license to own a firearm? Michael Moore
38
I drive an American car. It's a Chrysler. That's not an endorsement. It's more like a cry for pity. Michael Moore
39
You need to have a relationship with what you put inside you. I don't want to get all spiritual about this, but I believe our bodies are a gift, and to deface it is disrespectful. Michael Moore
40
I think the NRA, they got it half-right when they say, 'Guns don't kill people, people kill people.' I change it to, 'Guns don't kill people, Americans kill people.' Michael Moore
41
Capitalism is against the things that we say we believe in - democracy, freedom of choice, fairness. It's not about any of those things now. It's about protecting the wealthy and legalizing greed. Michael Moore
42
My dad was an assembly line worker at AC Spark Plug, which was a division of General Motors, and his job was to build and then inspect the little spark plugs as they came off the line. Michael Moore
43
Ask anyone on Social Security if their check comes on time every month. Like clockwork. And it comes through the so-called dilapidated U.S. mail. My dad's check literally will come on the same day every month. The government has been quite good and efficient at creating a number of systems. Michael Moore