It can certainly be misleading to take the attributes of a movement, or the anxieties and contradictions of a moment, and to personalize or 'objectify' them in the figure of one individual. Yet ordinary discourse would be unfeasible without the use of portmanteau terms–like 'Stalinism, ' say–just as the most scrupulous insistence on historical forces will often have to concede to the sheer personality of a Napoleon or a Hitler. I thought then, and I think now, that Osama bin Laden was a near-flawless personification of the mentality of a real force: the force of Islamic jihad. And I also thought, and think now, that this force absolutely deserves to be called evil, and that the recent decapitation of its most notorious demagogue and organizer is to be welcomed without reserve. Osama bin Laden's writings and actions constitute a direct negation of human liberty, and vent an undisguised hatred and contempt for life itself. Christopher Hitchens
About This Quote

In the passage above, Chomsky explains how it is possible to make a person look like a "flawless personification of a mentality." He was saying that Osama bin Laden was not an individual, but a way of describing where the world is going. He also said that he thought that Osama bin Laden was a "near-flawless personification of the mentality of a real force." He went on to say that he thinks that Osama bin Laden and the belief of Islamic jihad is evil. This quote shows that people can be misrepresented for their actions and beliefs.

Source: The Enemy

Some Similar Quotes
  1. When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it--always. - Mahatma Gandhi
  2. Buy a gift for a dog, and you'll be amazed at the way it will dance and swerve its tail, but if don't have anything to offer to it, it won't even recognize your arrival; such are the attributes of fake friends. - Michael Bassey Johnson
  3. May the forces of evil become confused on the way to your house. - George Carlin
  4. When people see some things as beautiful, other things become ugly. When people see some things as good, other things become bad. - Lao Tzu
  5. We are supposed to call poison medicine and we wonder why we're always sick. - Stefan Molyneux
More Quotes By Christopher Hitchens
  1. What do you most value in your friends? Their continued existence.
  2. About once or twice every month I engage in public debates with those whose pressing need it is to woo and to win the approval of supernatural beings. Very often, when I give my view that there is no supernatural dimension, and certainly not one...
  3. I have met some highly intelligent believers, but history has no record to say that [s]he knew or understood the mind of god. Yet this is precisely the qualification which the godly must claim–so modestly and so humbly–to possess. It is time to withdraw our...
  4. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him will believeth in anything. - Hitchens 3:16
  5. My own opinion is enough for me, and I claim the right to have it defended against any consensus, any majority, anywhere, any place, any time. And anyone who disagrees with this can pick a number, get in line, and kiss my ass.
Related Topics