I’m Often Misquoted

I’M OFTEN MISQUOTED: Two quotes of mine are often given incorrectly, the first because of imprecise remembrance of a memorable idea, and the second because of a purposely or inadvertently sloppy journalist reporting on my historic trial.

The first is my maxim on the rulers of society, which exists online and in print in a dozen different variations, some of them probably more elegant than my original.

What I said was: “To determine the true rulers of any society, all you must do is ask yourself this question: Who is it that I am not permitted to criticize?”

The second common misquotation is of my statement on racial supremacism when I was on trial in 2007 (at which trial I was acquitted of all charges). The press had repeatedly accused of me being a “White supremacist,” a totally false claim since I oppose all forms of racial supremacism (one race ruling over or dominating another and denying the other’s self-determination and freedom).

The papers and those who parrot them had me saying “I’m no more a White supremacist than the Dalai Lama,” a nonsensical statement since no one claims the Dalai Lama is White, much less a White supremacist.

What I actually said was this: “I’m no more a White supremacist than the Dalai Lama is a Tibetan supremacist. He loves his people too.”