Jean Houston Quotes

I think people in general have neglected to learn about history.

It’s only at certain points in history that people realize just how much power that they have.

I guess I'm interested in people and society and what we do collectively in the realm of decisions that shape our world. You know, at least on a human level.

A question I would like to present to the world is: Where is the love? And what are we doing? Who's making the decisions that are putting us in the predicaments that we are in, with all of these people losing their lives around the world in so many different ways? I feel like a serious revolution needs to take place in order for human beings to evolve in a way where we can truly exist as a society.

Our history is a passion for me. I feel that we leave out so much information and huge gaps in the American story and it makes it hard for people to really understand that we are all intricately related as Americans. So I am attracted to historically based projects because we entertain and learn something at the same time. I just love that combination.

Why is history important? Without history, many people have no idea how many of today's half-baked ideas have been tried, again and again - and have repeatedly led to disaster. Most of these ideas are not new. They are just being recycled with re-treaded rhetoric.

A lot of people believe that you don't need to know the history and that creates newness. I disagree: we should always be informed and then destroy it.

Freedom... refer[s] to a social relationship among people-namely, the absence of force as a prospective instrument of decision making. Freedom is reduced whenever a decision is made under threat of force, whether or not force actually materializes or is evident in retrospect.

One of the great liabilities of history is that all too many people fail to remain awake through great periods of social change.

People are going to do stupid things, but you don't take away the freedom because somebody makes a stupid decision.

I am a part of history whether people want to take it seriously or not.

Tony Blair made decisions on what he thought was best for the people of Great Britain, and I made decisions on what I thought was best for Americans. And I really don't view our relationship as one of quid pro quo. I view our relationship as one of strong allies and friends working together for the common good.

The more people are involved in a given task, the more potential agreements need to be negotiated to do anything, and the greater the transaction costs.

every individual can make a difference ... if we continue to leave decision making to the so-called decision makers, things will never change.

I feel that it's very important for young people to have a sense of history and do research and don't re-invent the wheel and don't think that you're the first martyr to discover social injustice but to take advantage of previous generations of activists and find out what they did and how they resolved things.

Quick decision makers are often stuck behind annoying people in line at Starbucks.

People tend to forget that the word "history" contains the word "story".

Everyone's got a moment or two in their life where something happens and you make a decision and then your entire life changes.

We associate leadership with decisiveness. That perception of leadership pushes people to make decisions fairly quickly, lest they be seen as dithering and indecisive.

You mustn't confuse the need for effective chairmanship, which is part of the job of the boss, along with the ability to take tough decisions and to lead people.

I also know that it's not about me, it's about all of you and it's about our country, I know that, I fully understand that. That's why I got involved. It's about all of us together as a country. It's a movement the likes of which we have never in history in this country seen before, never in history. Even the pundits, even the media - that truly dislikes Donald Trump for their own reasons - will admit this is a movement the likes of which people have never seen before.

It makes sense for societies to make education compulsory for children. Children are vulnerable. They can't make decisions. But the decisions can't all be left in the hands of the parents. They can be irresponsible too.

Decisions are made by people who have time, not people who have talent.

The press is critical at this time, and if you look at history, this is so critical.

You know, sometimes you've got to trust the people you love. You've got to trust that if they're good people, they'll make good decisions.