I don't know that I ever bought into the "American dream." I was a child of privilege. I grew up in the… — Bill Ayers Copy Share Image
One question is: Who is the working class today, and how has it changed? Where are we in that? I don't have… — Bill Ayers Copy Share Image
We all want to believe this American pastoral, but there's more to it. We have to be willing to exile ourselves from… — Bill Ayers Copy Share Image
What was on the agenda was school and social life and those kinds of things. So I was the middle of five… — Bill Ayers Copy Share Image
That's where we all kind of were in the mid-1960s. Students for a Democratic Society grew from a small group of socialists… — Bill Ayers Copy Share Image
Without a doubt. It's woven into our DNA in a very deep way and so to kind of be smacked in the… — Bill Ayers Copy Share Image
In a wild and diverse democracy each of us should be trying to talk to lots and lots and lots of people… — Bill Ayers Copy Share Image
It transmitted because on the campuses, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee was recruiting, was organizing. Students for a Democratic Society was founded at… — Bill Ayers Copy Share Image
When [my dad] was at the University of Michigan, my mom was a social-worker. As he rose, he voted for [Adlai] Stevenson… — Bill Ayers Copy Share Image
Fairly apolitical. Kind of aspiring to participate in life. I'm 18-19 years old. Wanting to dive into the world and finding the… — Bill Ayers Copy Share Image
[Students for a Democratic Society] was on many campuses and it was a powerful organization. It was founded by Tom Hayden, who… — Bill Ayers Copy Share Image
One of the things that happened that I think is noteworthy, my parents were pretty tolerant people given their position in society.… — Bill Ayers Copy Share Image
It wasn't [Barack] Obama per se; it was the feeling on the ground; it was seeing an old black woman in a wheelchair being… — Bill Ayers Copy Share Image
I didn't respond to people thrusting microphones at me and asking me questions that were unanswerable in a sound bite. — Bill Ayers Copy Share Image
I haven't been silent. I teach, I lecture at universities, I write, I'm not silent. — Bill Ayers Copy Share Image
One of the great crimes of the Bloomberg/Klein administration [in New York City] is that they've removed themselves from communities, as if communities have… — Bill Ayers Copy Share Image
[Lyndon ] Johnson was responding to a black freedom movement that was tearing the country open and he did what he had to do… — Bill Ayers Copy Share Image
I'm wary of government. Part of [the Tea Party] impulse is to dislike and be worried about the rich. I'm that way too. So… — Bill Ayers Copy Share Image
I'd been arrested many times by then. I'd been an organizer, so many things had changed over those three years [from 1965 till 1968]. — Bill Ayers Copy Share Image
You cannot live a political life, you cannot live a moral life if you're not willing to open your eyes and see the world… — Bill Ayers Copy Share Image
I was a good liberal in some sense at that point. I wanted to end a war. I wanted to support the civil rights… — Bill Ayers Copy Share Image
The fact is that in my prep school, I went to a boarding school, 39 young men graduated from that prep school. Five years… — Bill Ayers Copy Share Image
[The whole first year at university] was a great time for me and great time of awakening. — Bill Ayers Copy Share Image
![“When [my dad] was at the University of Michigan, my mom was a social-worker. As he rose, he voted for [Adlai] Stevenson initially. Then he voted for [Dwight] Eisenhower. Then he kept voting Republican until he voted for Barack Obama. So that's kind of amazing. But he was offered a cabinet post by…” quote by Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f11/bill-ayers-1848_barack_when-my-dad-was-at-the-university-of-mic_501515.jpg)
![“[Students for a Democratic Society] was on many campuses and it was a powerful organization. It was founded by Tom Hayden, who passed away very recently. It was one of the founders of SDS and that chief writer of the Port Huron Statement, which is still worth reading. It's kind of the Bernie…” quote by Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/b1b/bill-ayers-1848_campaigns_students-for-a-democratic-society-was-on_2598828.jpg)
![“It wasn't [Barack] Obama per se; it was the feeling on the ground; it was seeing an old black woman in a wheelchair being wheeled by her son waving a big American flag, and then seeing a guy with his baby in his arms saying, "I didn't want her to miss tonight! I wanted to be able to tell her!" And…” quote by Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/806/bill-ayers-1848_able_it-wasn-t-barack-obama-per-se-it-was-the_20409.jpg)
![“One of the great crimes of the Bloomberg/Klein administration [in New York City] is that they've removed themselves from communities, as if communities have nothing to say about what their needs and aspirations are for themselves and for their children.” quote by Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/cfb/bill-ayers-1848_administration_one-of-the-great-crimes-of-the-bloomberg_36172.jpg)
![“[Lyndon ] Johnson was responding to a black freedom movement that was tearing the country open and he did what he had to do as a conservative politician.” quote by Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/4e4/bill-ayers-1848_black_lyndon-johnson-was-responding-to-a-black_39317.jpg)
![“I'm wary of government. Part of [the Tea Party] impulse is to dislike and be worried about the rich. I'm that way too. So I don't find them to be as atrocious as most people do, as your liberals do. I'm not a liberal.” quote by Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f9a/bill-ayers-1848_dislike_i-m-wary-of-government-part-of-the-tea-p_60556.jpg)
![“I'd been arrested many times by then. I'd been an organizer, so many things had changed over those three years [from 1965 till 1968].” quote by Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/0f8/bill-ayers-1848_arrested_i-d-been-arrested-many-times-by-then-i-d_88658.jpg)
![“[The whole first year at university] was a great time for me and great time of awakening.” quote by Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/37e/bill-ayers-1848_awakening_the-whole-first-year-at-university-was-a_193300.jpg)