Harvey Milk: Life is Not Worth Living Without Hope

Published November 22, 2008 @ 10:10AM PT

Harvey Milk Quote As we mentioned last night, we'll be throwing down a quote a day this week from LGBT rights activist Harvey Milk, in anticipation of this week's release of "Milk," from Director Gus Van Sant and writer Dustin Lance Black. Today's Milk quote comes from a speech Harvey gave at a dinner the day after he was inaugurated as San Francisco's first openly gay Supervisor.

The American Dream starts with neighborhoods. If we wish to rebuild our cities, we must first rebuild our neighborhoods. To sit on the front steps -- whether it's a veranda in a small town or a concrete stoop in a big city -- is infinitely more important than to huddle on the living room lounger and watch a make-believe world in not-quite living color...

Yesterday, my esteemed colleague on the board said we cannot live on hope alone. I know that...The important thing is not that we can live on hope alone, but that life is not worth living without it. If the story of Don Quixote means anything, it means that the spirit of life is just as important as its substance.

Hmm...all this hope talk remind you of another politician right now?

And interestingly enough, the "esteemed colleague" that Milk is jabbing in this quote is Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Cal.), who at the time was a Supervisor along with Milk.

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Comments (3)

This quote My friend is not gay or straight or black or white.... its human. Sounds like Mr. Milk was a fine human being and was not speaking in terms of politics... but life. To hijack that quote for any political purpose is criminal! The gay community needs to get back to living and quit all this turmoil! Harvey Milk was not killed because he was gay everyone knew he was gay! He was Killed by a disgruntled former employee!! Stop using him as a martyr he was not killed because he was gay

Posted by Eric Tranum on 11/22/2008 @ 02:45PM PT
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Hi Eric,

I'm confused about why you think I'm hijacking this quote. I've re-read this post several times, and don't see any political undertones about it. I would agree that Milk was a fine human being, and his words are applicable well beyond the gay community. I just don't see how the quote on display here is being used for political purposes.

Thanks,
Mike

Posted by Michael Jones on 11/22/2008 @ 09:07PM PT
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Eric,

No, Harvey was most likely not murdered because he was gay. I think that gay or straight he would have been murdered. He did, however, spend a great deal of his late life fighting for gay equality. The man who murdered him got away with it because he killed a gay man. The "twinky defense" is more of a backlash against gays, a message to gays. So, if by that, I want to "Use", as you put it, Harvey Milk as a martyr, then I have every damned right to.

You seemed so outraged that you would say , "To hijack that quote for any political purpose is criminal! The gay community needs to get back to living and quit all this turmoil!". We'll I am equally as outraged that you think you have the right to tell us to be so well behaved. On the contrary, well behaved people rarely bring about social change. It seems people with your ideology have no room to be outraged.

Posted by Chuck DeVries on 12/01/2008 @ 11:11PM PT
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Michael is the Communications Director for the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School, and previously was Communications Director for Pax Christi USA, a progressive Catholic human rights organization.