Michael Harrington

“The fate of the poor is to be invisible.”

“The other America, the America of poverty, is hidden today in a way that it never was before. Its millions are socially invisible to the rest of us.”

“Socialism is the extension of democracy to the economic and social life of the society.”

“Poverty is a culture, an institution, a way of life.”

“There are mighty historical and economic forces that keep the poor down.”

“The real explanation of why the poor are where they are is that they made the mistake of being born to the wrong parents, in the wrong section of the country, in the wrong industry, or in the wrong racial or ethnic group.”

“To be poor is not to be dull-witted or stupid. It is to be defeated.”

“The poor get sick more than anyone else in the society... when they are sick, they are sicker than anyone else.”

“I am a pious apostate, an atheist for Jesus.”

“My democratic socialism is not a dogma, not a blueprint for the future. It is a commitment to values.”

“If there is technological advance without social advance, there is, almost automatically, an increase in human misery.”