Suzanne Collins Quotes
It means we're on your side." That's what Bonnie said. I have people on my side? What side? Am I unwittingly the face of the hoped-for rebellion? Has the mockingjay on my pin become a symbol of resistance? If so, my side's not doing too well.
Collins, Suzanne. Catching Fire. Scholastic Press, 2009, p. 147.
1st Baron Lytton of Knebworth
In 1993 Mooshood Abiola was the apparent victor in the Nigerian presidential election, but the election was `nullified' by the previous President and military dictator, General Ibrahim Babangida. Abiola announced he would attempt to form a government anyway.
Revolutionary violence and excesses are
Vladimir Lenin. This galvanized the October Revolution which put the Bolsheviks in power ousting the Kerensky government.
There was no national uprising. Not a single Cuban came to assist the Bay of Pigs invaders, nor was there even one sabotage action or other revolutionary action anywhere in Cuba. The conviction of the CIA that Castro was hated by the Cubans and the overwhelming majority of Cubans would welcome an invasion was so completely wrong that it was stunning. The assurances the CIA planners had received that there would be an uprising came from Cuban anti-Castro émigrés who were being paid by the CIA to organize the invasion force. They would only continue to get paid if the American authorities felt that there was a very good chance of success so they turned out to have a serious conflict of interest. But the CIA planners had been hearing this from Cuban exiles not involved with the invasion and they had a strong bias that no communist government could be a popular one. It was a great illustration of the fact that experienced professional intelligence analysts and operatives are susceptible to self-delusion and confusing wishful thinking with reality.
Thai society had been polarized and very large peaceful demonstrations (by the Yellow Shirts) were calling for the resignation of the government which although very corrupt and controlled by a single very rich family which had extensive support of the rural and poor (the Red Shirts). This quotation illustrates how a peaceful protest could lead to violence and terrorism. This Red Shirt leader, rather than lose, would lead violence in the streets like the Brown Shirts of the pre WWII Germany. If the violence fails, he was willing to go underground and become a terrorist movement.
The occasion for the speech was the 60th birthday of Russian Premier, Joseph Stalin.
Suzanne Collins is an American television writer and author. She is known as the author of The New York Times best-selling series The Underland Chronicles and The Hunger Games.
