A. J. P. Taylor Quotes

What we call National-Socialism is the poisonous perversion of ideas which have a long history in German intellectual life.

Nationalism has nothing to do with democratic values: Authoritarians can be nationalists; indeed, most are.

We decline the claim to power by parties which want to own their followers body and soul, and which want to put themselves over and above the whole nation.

The United States is not, nor has ever been, anything close to a fascist country.

I'm not comparing Bush to Adolf Hitler - because George Bush, for one thing, is not as smart as Adolf Hitler.

The hope in the hearts of millions of national socialists can be fulfilled only by an authoritarian government.

I have often thought that if a rational Fascist dictatorship were to exist, then it would choose the American system.

In many respects fascism not only is here but has been here for nearly a century. For what we call liberalism--the refurbished edifice of American Progressivism--is in fact a descendant and manifestation of fascism.

If the American people really tire of democracy and want to make a trial of Fascism, I shall be the last person to object. But if that is their mood, then they had better proceed toward their aim by changing the Constitution and not by forgetting it.

Adolf Hitler was a Jeanne d'Arc, a saint. He was a martyr. Like many martyrs, he held extreme views.

If you read Mein Kampf, Hitler's book, which I have outside, I bought it when I was eleven, Hitler said, "democracy inevitably leads to Marxism" - now you work that one out. It's so interesting that when the poor have the vote they will use it to remove the privileges of the rich.

I mean, I'm not a, you know, a fraidy cat. I mean, I am truly concerned in this country that we are moving towards fascism.

No matter what Donald Trump says, he has deep socialist leanings. He's a nationalist and a populist. And throughout history, whenever you combine those three things it never ends well.

Fear and destructiveness are the major emotional sources of fascism, eros belongs mainly to democracy.

When you say 'state' you mean 'national.' National Socialism. That is what Mussolini and Hitler did. National Socialism. State Capitalism. They've changed the name.

The struggle between the two worlds [Fascism and Democracy] can permit no compromises. The new cycle which begins with the ninth year of the Fascist regime places the alternative in even greater relief either we or they, either their ideas or ours, either our State or theirs!

Fascism is more of a natural state than democracy. To assume blithely that we can export democracy into any country we choose can serve paradoxically to encourage more fascism at home and abroad. Democracy is a state of grace that is attained only by those countries who have a host of individuals not only ready to enjoy freedom but to undergo the heavy labor of maintaining it.

We seem to be a long way off from the kind of Fascism which we behold in Italy today, but we are not so far from the kind of Fascism which Mussolini preached in Italy before he assumed power, and we are slowly approaching the conditions which made Fascism there possible.

Fascism is not in itself a new order of society. It is the future refusing to be born.

When applied to politics and taken to its extreme, kitsch is the mask of death. Fascism was all aesthetics. There was no core principle to it. There was no truth to it.

Anthemic rock music is inherently fascist - anything intended to move huge masses of people is politically offensive to me.

The dangerous American fascist is the man who wants to do in the United States in an American way what Hitler did in Germany in a Prussian way.

Fascism was a counter-revolution against a revolution that never took place.

Liberalism will beat totalitarianism by killing it softly, not by mimicking it.

After the many rumours that we had heard about Hitler and the published criticisms we had read about him, we were pleasantly impressed. His appearance was neither pretentious nor affected.