--- title: "3 Social Democrats Quotes By Tony Judt" description: "3 Social Democrats quotes by Tony Judt. Plus more from Tony Judt and more Social Democrats sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c10/tony-judt-1730_social-democracy_somewhat-different-many-european-countri_301790.jpg" --- > [“somewhat different. Many European countries have long practiced something resembling social democracy: but they have forgotten how to preach it. Social democrats…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/somewhat-different-many-european-countries-have-long-practiced/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c10/tony-judt-1730_social-democracy_somewhat-different-many-european-countri_301790.jpg) > [Social democrats are characteristically modest - a political quality whose virtues are overestimated. We need to apologise a little less for our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/social-democrats-are-characteristically-modest-a-political-quality/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/24b/tony-judt-1730_achievements_social-democrats-are-characteristically_451627.jpg) > [“Socialism for social democrats, especially in Scandinavia, was a distributive concept. It was about making sure that wealth and assets were not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/socialism-for-social-democrats-especially-in-scandinavia-was-a/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/12b/tony-judt-1730_socialism_socialism-for-social-democrats-especiall_503062.jpg) ## More by Tony Judt > [I don't believe in an afterlife. I don't believe in a single or multiple godhead. I respect people who do, but I don't believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/i-don-t-believe-in-an-afterlife-i-don-t-believe-in-a-single-or/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [“Markets do not automatically generate trust, cooperation or collective action for the common good. Quite the contrary: it is in the nature of economic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/markets-do-not-automatically-generate-trust-cooperation-or-collective/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [“ Lieux de memoire . . . 'exist because there are no longer any milieux de memoire , settings in which memory is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/lieux-de-memoire-exist-because-there-are-no-longer-any-milieux-de/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [“Keynes died in 1946, exhausted by his wartime efforts. But he had long since demonstrated that neither capitalism nor liberalism would survive very long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/keynes-died-in-1946-exhausted-by-his-wartime-efforts-but-he-had-long/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [The Second World War had a precipitating effect in that it discredited the empires, as well as bankrupting them. Not only could you no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/the-second-world-war-had-a-precipitating-effect-in-that-it/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [“That the state might exceed its remit and damage the market by distorting its operations was not taken very seriously in these years.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/that-the-state-might-exceed-its-remit-and-damage-the-market-by/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [“Whatever their other differences, French Gaullists, Christian Democrats and Socialists shared a common faith in the activist state, economic planning and large-scale public investment.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/whatever-their-other-differences-french-gaullists-christian-democrats/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [I think if I'm controversial it's not because I set out to be. It's because I've never felt comfortable being part of someone else's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/i-think-if-i-m-controversial-it-s-not-because-i-set-out-to-be-it-s/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [“This reduction of 'society' to a thin membrane of interactions between private individuals is presented today as the ambition of libertarians and free marketeers.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/this-reduction-of-society-to-a-thin-membrane-of-interactions-between/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [“Something is profoundly wrong with the way we live today. For thirty years we have made a virtue out of the pursuit of material…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/something-is-profoundly-wrong-with-the-way-we-live-today-for-thirty/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [“Today, neither Left nor Right can find their footing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/today-neither-left-nor-right-can-find-their-footing/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [We have responsibilities for others, not just across space but across time. We have responsibilities to people who came before us. They left us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/we-have-responsibilities-for-others-not-just-across-space-but-across/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [“What did trust, cooperation, progressive taxation and the interventionist state bequeath to western societies in the decades following 1945? The short answer is, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/what-did-trust-cooperation-progressive-taxation-and-the/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [Healthcare reform is a paradigmatic case. It is self-evidently necessary and inevitable and has been on the agenda for 35 years, and the political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/healthcare-reform-is-a-paradigmatic-case-it-is-self-evidently/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [“Inequality is corrosive. It rots societies from within.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/inequality-is-corrosive-it-rots-societies-from-within/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-democrats/tony-judt/#itemlist", "name": "3 Social Democrats Quotes By Tony Judt", "numberOfItems": 3, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“somewhat different. Many European countries have long practiced something resembling social democracy: but they have forgotten how to preach it. Social democrats today are defensive and apologetic. Critics who claim that the European model is too expensive or economically inefficient have been allowed to pass unchallenged. 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