CCM Site Quote List

Critical Mass has inspired many to become more knowledgeable about the cultural and infrastructure forces shaping our lives. . . and do something about it.

Even the more conservative estimate of the world's yearly crash fatalities works out to a death rate roughly equivalent to five jumbo jet crashes every day. If 500,000 people per year worldwide died in airplane crashes or, if 500,000 people per year worldwide died in train wrecks, we'd very likely have major investigations of these incidents and possibly even abandon the technologies as unsafe.

The bicycle is good for everyone, you spend less time and it's good for you, it's good for the environment. We have to become urban cyclists. It's not only for having fun. It's a means of transportation. You can do it wearing your suit. I'm no less because I ride a bike.

...it's not just a bike. It represents something that only we, riders, know: the freedom and grace and rush and everything that all of the good things in life are about is built in to the use of the most perfect machine ever built by man. So clean your bike today, or grease the chain, or just pat the seat and look with happiness on the machine that gives you so much joy.

Non-violence is a cultivated attitude that entails openness, integrity, and responsibility. Not to be confused with passivity, it is a pro-active, all-encompassing way of thinking, speaking and behaving that requires a great deal of calm and discipline, honesty and clarity. Those who practice non-violence do not verbally or physically engage in the escalation of conflict for escalation's sake. It is a refusal to counter the violence of your opponent. It is resourcefulness.

If we want to decenter the car from our cities, our landscapes, our public spaces, we need to employ every critique we can: environmental, safety, health, equity, economy (a tricky one since so much of our economy is fueled by the auto/road industry), quality of life. . . logic.

I am very proud to have [been] associated and to continue to associate with [Chicago Critical Mass], a thoughtful and persistent group of alternative transportation activists.