Jim Jones

"When God is Socialism, God is love. [...] Socialism means that all the means of production that man has [...] are owned by the same people, the family of man, the family of God. There is only one source of ownership—love. No one can privately own the land. No one can privately own the air. It must be held in common. So then, that is love, that is God, Socialism"

"Youve seen three people drop dead and you saw them resurrected. Their attitudes were prejudiced and they would drop dead, but I resurrected them. And Ive done it sixty-three times in eleven months this year in a public meeting."

"Love is the only weapon." Shit! Bullshit! Martin Luther King died with love! Kennedy died talking about something he couldnt even understand, some kind of generalized love, and he never even backed it up. He was shot down. Bullshit! "Love is the only weapon with which Ive got to fight." Ive got a hell of a lot of weapons to fight! Ive got my claws. Ive got cutlasses. Ive got guns. Ive got dynamite. Ive got a hell of a lot to fight! Ill fight! Ill fight!"

"So my opinion is that you be kind to children and be kind to seniors and take the potion like they used to take in ancient Greece and step over quietly because we are not committing suicide; it’s a revolutionary act. We can’t go back; they won’t leave us alone. They’re mow going back to tell more lies, which means more congressmen. And there’s no way, no way we can survive."

"I have known Rev. Jim Jones of the Peoples Temple for ten years. During this time I have never known him once to refuse to help anyone in need, regardless of race, color or creed. He has always believed in lighting a candle rather than cursing the darkness, and his work here in San Francisco and the Bay Area, as well as his devotion to the people and mission in Guyana, are the mark of a man who has dedicated his whole life to the service and welfare of humankind."

"We were about to board the planes for the flight back to the United States. Jim Jones didnt want us to leave, at least not alive. A tractor trailer loaded with men armed with shotguns and rifles pulled up and opened fire on us at that airstrip. Congressman Ryan was gunned down, having been shot 40 times. The first and only congressman in the history of this country to be assassinated during the line of duty. I was shot five times and left to bleed on that airstrip for 22 hours. Back at Jonestown, over 900 people lost their lives in a mass murder and suicide that night. This is what I awoke to on that long day. I was 28 years old, and I was waiting to die. I laid awake all night fearing some of the gunmen would come back and finish us off. Time passed, and local Guyanese people offered me rum to try and get me through the night. I had a lot of time to think. I promised God that if I lived, I would make every day count. I promised that I would make something out of my life if I was allowed to keep my life. Well, here I am. I have chosen a career as a public servant. One, I hope many of you will contemplate as you move forward in your lives."

"Our government does not love its people."

"If my wife said, Im not going to be a communist, Id say, well, forget it, by God, Ill forget you too."

"My whole life I have suffered from poverty and have faced many disappointments and pain, like a man is used to. That is why I want to make other people happy and want them to feel at home."

"For twenty-four times this year people up to ninety-six years of age have fell down, and theyve gived up the ghost, and no God came out of the sky. Old nigger Jones just walked down, and said, "Arise! Arise! Take up your bed! Arise!"

"The young preacher once threw his Bible to the floor and yelled at his associates, "Too many people are looking at this instead of looking at me!"

"I was ready to kill by the end of the third grade. I mean, I was so aggressive and hostile, I was ready to kill. Nobody gave me love, any understanding. In those days a parent was supposed to go with a child to school functions. There was some kind of school performance, and everybodys parent was there but mine. Im standing there, alone. Always was alone."