Those who say that life is worth living at any cost have already written an epitaph of infamy, for there is no cause and no person that they will not betray to stay alive.

John Dewey: An Intellectual Portrait 1939. Hook opposed all forms of determinism and argued as William James did that humans play a creative role in constructing the social world and to transforming the natural environment. Later years as anti-Communist
The Great Purge encouraged Hook's increasing ambivalence toward Marxism.

Sidney Hook (December 20 1902 – July 12 1989) was an American philosopher of the Pragmatist school known for his contributions to the philosophy of history the philosophy of education political theory and ethics. A pragmatic social democrat Hook sometimes cooperated with conservatives particularly in opposing Communism.