Studs Terkel

I find labels "liberal" and "conservative" of little meaning. Our language has become perverted along with the thoughts of many of us.

— Studs Terkel

“We forgot what happened yesterday. We know all about Paris Hilton. We know about that. But what do we know about why…

— Studs Terkel

When you become part of something, in some way you count. It could be a march; it could be a rally, even…

— Studs Terkel

Someone who does an act. In a democratic society, you're supposed to be an activist; that is, you participate. It could be…

— Studs Terkel

I cannot even picture myself retiring. What would I do? I'll always be doing something, asking somebody questions, even if there weren't…

— Studs Terkel

All the other books ask, 'What's it like?' What was World War II like for the young kid at Normandy, or what…

— Studs Terkel

Unless there's a grassroots movement of some sort, with TV and the media in general in the hands of fewer and fewer…

— Studs Terkel

“People who were personally concerned about a better world, came to Washington, were drawn to it. Even though where we were going…

— Studs Terkel

There are nascent stirrings in the neighborhood and in the field, articulated by non-celebrated people who bespeak the dreams of their fellows.…

— Studs Terkel

In order for us, black and white, to disenthrall ourselves from the harshest slavemaster, racism, we must disinter our buried history… We…

— Studs Terkel

“Chicago is not the most corrupt of cities. The state of New Jersey has a couple. Need we mention Nevada? Chicago, though,…

— Studs Terkel

“God, grant me serenity to accept those things I can't change, the courage to change those I can, and the wisdom to…

— Studs Terkel

“Work is about a search for daily meaning as well as daily bread, for recognition as well as cash, for astonishment rather…

— Studs Terkel

I presumably lost $150,000 in the depression of 1937—on my one stock investment—because I did everything Lehman Brothers told me. I said,…

— Studs Terkel

When I put the plate down, you don't hear a sound. When I pick up a glass, I want it to be…

— 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…

— Studs Terkel

“They would sit and talk and tell us their hard luck story. Whether it was true or not, we never questioned it.…

— Studs Terkel

Dorothy Day said - and I'm sure that Kathy Kelly would say the same thing - 'I'm working toward a world in…

— Studs Terkel

At a time when pimpery, lick-spittlery, and picking the public's pocket are the order of the day - indeed, officially proclaimed as…

— Studs Terkel

I suppose if I have an epitaph it would be: "Curiosity Did Not Kill This Cat." I don't see retiring in the…

— Studs Terkel

The trouble with censorship is that once it starts it is hard to stop. Just about every book contains something that someone…

— Studs Terkel

I've always felt, in all my books, that there's a deep decency in the American people and a native intelligence - providing…

— Studs Terkel