"It's a sad day when you find out that it's not accident or time or fortune, but just yourself that kept things from you."
"Belief is a moral act for which the believer is to be held responsible."
"I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year's fashion."
"It is best to act with confidence, no matter how little right you have to it."
"Since when do we have to agree with people to defend them from injustice?"
"You lose your manners when you are poor."
Today, we celebrate the life of Lillian Hellman, a Jewish writer who, in 1952, refused to answer questions from the House Un-American Activities Committee regarding the actions of her former Communist associates. A self-described "moral writer," when the moral code conflicted with the law of the land, Hellman had the courage to follow her conscience:
"I am not willing, now or in the future, to bring bad trouble to people who, in my past association with them, were completely innocent of any talk or any action that was disloyal or subversive....to hurt innocent people whom I knew many years ago in order to save myself is, to me, inhuman and indecent and dishonorable. I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year's fashions, even though I long ago came to the conclusion that I was not a political person and could have no comfortable place in any political group.
I was raised in an old-fashioned American tradition and there were certain homely things that were taught to me: to try to tell the truth, not to bear false witness, not to harm my neighbour, to be loyal to my country, and so on. In general, I respected these ideals of Christian honor and did as well as I knew how. It is my belief that you will agree with these simple rules of human decency and will not expect me to violate the good American tradition from which they spring."
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