12 quotes by Studs Terkel

“I want, of course, peace, grace, and beauty. How do you do that? You work for it.” — Studs Terkel

0 favs

“If solace is any sort of succor to someone, that is sufficient. I believe in the faith of people, whatever faith they may have.” — Studs Terkel

0 favs

“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 industrial nations.” — Studs Terkel

0 favs

“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

0 favs

“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 oven.” — Studs Terkel

0 favs

“I hope for peace and sanity - it's the same thing.” — Studs Terkel

0 favs

“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 realistic.” — Studs Terkel

0 favs

“We use the word 'hope' perhaps more often than any other word in the vocabulary: 'I hope it's a nice day.' 'Hopefully, you're doing well.' 'So how are things going along? Pretty good. Going to be good tomorrow? Hope so.'” — Studs Terkel

0 favs

“I've always felt, in all my books, that there's a deep decency in the American people and a native intelligence - providing they have the facts, providing they have the information.” — Studs Terkel

0 favs

“I'm not up on the Internet, but I hear that is a democratic possibility. People can connect with each other. I think people are ready for something, but there is no leadership to offer it to them. People are ready to say, 'Yes, we are part of a world.'” — Studs Terkel

0 favs

“Religion obviously played a role in this book and the previous book, too.” — Studs Terkel

0 favs

“Nonetheless, do I have respect for people who believe in the hereafter? Of course I do. I might add, perhaps even a touch of envy too, because of the solace.” — Studs Terkel

0 favs