WIST Quotations

Hellman, Lillian -- (Attributed)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Since when do you have to agree with people to defend them from injustice?

Lillian Hellman (1905-1984) American playwright, screenwriter
(Attributed)

Hellman, Lillian -- An Unfinished Woman (1969)

Dave — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:27:12 +0000

Nothing, of course, begins at the time you think it did.

Lillian Hellman (1905-1984) American playwright, screenwriter
An Unfinished Woman (1969)

Hellman, Lillian -- The Little Foxes, Act I (1939)

Dave — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:11:17 +0000

Cynicism is an unpleasant way of saying the truth.

Lillian Hellman (1905-1984) American playwright, screenwriter
The Little Foxes, Act I (1939)

Hellman, Lillian -- The Watch on the Rhine (1941)

Dave — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:02:49 +0000

For every man who lives without freedom, the rest of us must face the guilt.

Lillian Hellman (1905-1984) American playwright, screenwriter
The Watch on the Rhine (1941)

Hellman, Lillian -- Toys in the Attic, Act 3 (1959)

Dave — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 23:19:32 +0000

ANNA: Well, people change, and forget to tell each other. Too bad — causes so many mistakes.

Lillian Hellman (1905-1984) American playwright, screenwriter
Toys in the Attic, Act 3 (1959)
(Source)

Hellman, Lillian -- Watch on the Rhine (1941)

Dave — Fri, 26 Aug 2016 03:15:30 +0000

Fashions in sin change.

Lillian Hellman (1905-1984) American playwright, screenwriter
Watch on the Rhine (1941)

Hellman, Lillian -- Letter to Rep. John S. Wood, House Committee on Un-American Activities (19 May 1952)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

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. I do not like subversion or disloyalty in any form and if I had ever seen any I would have considered it my duty to have reported it to the proper authorities. But 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.

Lillian Hellman (1905-1984) American playwright, screenwriter
Letter to Rep. John S. Wood, House Committee on Un-American Activities (19 May 1952)
(Source)

National Archives copy. Reprinted in The Nation (31 May 1952).

In the letter Hellman offers to come before the committee and talk of her own life and beliefs, but not if she could then be compelled to "name names" of others. As a result of the letter and her invoking the Fifth Amendment at the HUAC hearings, Hellman was put on the Hollywood Blacklist for the rest of the decade.

Hellman, Lillian -- Letter to Rep. John S. Wood, House Committee on Un-American Activities (19 May 1952)

Dave — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 17:13:29 +0000

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 neighbor, to be loyal to my country, and so on. In general, I respected these ideals of Christian honor and did as well with them 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.

Lillian Hellman (1905-1984) American playwright, screenwriter
Letter to Rep. John S. Wood, House Committee on Un-American Activities (19 May 1952)
(Source)

On declining to "name names" before HUAC (see here). National Archives copy. Reprinted in The Nation (31 May 1952).

As a result of the letter and her invoking the Fifth Amendment at the HUAC hearings, Hellman was put on the Hollywood Blacklist for the rest of the decade.