Quotes by Studs Terkel

About Studs Terkel:

Louis "Studs" Terkel is best remembered for his oral histories of common Americans, and for hosting a long-running radio show in Chicago.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Chicago is not the most corrupt of cities. The state of New Jersey has a couple. Need we mention Nevada? Chicago, though, is the Big Daddy. Not more corrupt, just more theatrical, more colorful in its shadiness.

Studs Terkel

Chicago is not the most corrupt American city. It's the most theatrically corrupt.

Studs Terkel

But once you become active in something, something happens to you. You get excited and suddenly you realize you count.

Studs Terkel

I want people to talk to one another no matter what their difference of opinion might be.

Studs Terkel

I want to praise activists through the years. I praise those of the past as well, to have them honored.

Studs Terkel

So people are ready. I feel hopeful in that sense.

Studs Terkel

That's what we're missing. We're missing argument. We're missing debate. We're missing colloquy. We're missing all sorts of things. Instead, we're accepting.

Studs Terkel

When you become part of something, in some way you count. It could be a march; it could be a rally, even a brief one. You're part of something, and you suddenly realize you count. To count is very important.

Studs Terkel

You happen to be talking to an agnostic. You know what an agnostic is? A cowardly atheist.

Studs Terkel

How goddamn foolish it is, the war. They's no war in the worth that's worth fightin' for. I don't care where it is. They can't tell me any different. Money, money is the thing that causes it all. I wouldn't be a bit surprised that the people that sta...

Studs Terkel

I think most of us are looking for a calling, not a job. Most of us, like the assembly-line worker, have jobs that are too small for our spirit. Jobs are not big enough for people.

Studs Terkel

I want, of course, peace, grace, and beauty. How do you do that? You work for it.

Studs Terkel

People are ready to say, 'Yes, we are ready for single-payer health insurance.' We are the only industrialized country in the world that does not have national health insurance. We are the richest in wealth and the poorest in health of all the indust...

Studs Terkel

That's why I wrote this book: to show how these people can imbue us with hope. I read somewhere that when a person takes part in community action, his health improves. Something happens to him or to her biologically. It's like a tonic.

Studs Terkel

I hope for peace and sanity - it's the same thing.

Studs Terkel

I hope that memory is valued - that we do not lose memory.

Studs Terkel

I thought, if ever there were a time to write a book about hope, it's now.

Studs Terkel

With optimism, you look upon the sunny side of things. People say, 'Studs, you're an optimist.' I never said I was an optimist. I have hope because what's the alternative to hope? Despair? If you have despair, you might as well put your head in the o...

Studs Terkel

We are the most powerful nation in the world, but we're not the only nation in the world. We are not the only people in the world. We are an important people, the wealthiest, the most powerful and, to a great extent, generous. But we are part of the ...

Studs Terkel

I think it's realistic to have hope. One can be a perverse idealist and say the easiest thing: 'I despair. The world's no good.' That's a perverse idealist. It's practical to hope, because the hope is for us to survive as a human species. That's very...

Studs Terkel

Author Bio

  • NameStuds Terkel
  • DescriptionAmerican author, historian and broadcaster
  • BornMay 16, 1912
  • DiedOctober 31, 2008
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionJournalist; Historian; Author; Radio Host
  • AwardsElijah Parish Lovejoy Award; National Humanities Medal; Pulitzer Prize For General Non-Fiction; Four Freedoms Award - Freedom Of Speech; George Polk Award