Journalism talk is part of the nonstop background noise of American life. Russell Baker More Quotes by Russell Baker More Quotes From Russell Baker New York is the only city in the world where you can get run down on the sidewalk by a pedestrian. Russell Baker citiesnew-yorkrunning When it comes to cars, only two varieties of people are possible - cowards and fools. Russell Baker carclevertwo It was dramatic to watch my grandmother decapitate a turkey with an ax the day before Thanksgiving. Nowadays the expense of hiring grandmothers for the ax work would probably qualify all turkeys so honored with gourmet status. Russell Baker funny-thanksgivinggrandmotherfood There are good reasons why everybody should heed politicians' advise not to believe the media. One of the best is that the media report what politicians say. Russell Baker mediareason-whybelieve The Government cannot afford to have a country made up entirely of rich people, because rich people pay so little tax that the Government would quickly go bankrupt. This is why Government men always tell us that labor is man's noblest calling. Government needs labor to pay its upkeep. Russell Baker mencountrypeople The charm of television entertainment is its ability to bridge the chasm between dinner and bedtime without mental distraction. Russell Baker dinnerbridgestelevision Grass is the least rewarding of all status symbols... The grass does nothing but drink money, exhaust energies, crush spirits, destroy sleep, create tensions and interfere with the watching of baseball games, and sprout insolent signs ordering humans to keep off it. Russell Baker crushbaseballsleep A man doesn't amount to something because he has been successful at a third-rate career like journalism. It is evidence, that's all: evidence that if he buckled down and worked hard, he might some day do something really worth doing. Russell Baker careerssuccessfulmen Few expected very much of Franklin Roosevelt on Inauguration Day in 1933. Like Barack Obama seventy-six years later, he was succeeding a failed Republican president, and Americans had voted for change. What that change might be Roosevelt never clearly said, probably because he himself didn't know. Russell Baker presidentmightyears Live by publicity, you'll probably die by publicity. Russell Baker publicitydieslive-by Anticipating that most poetry will be worse than carrying heavy luggage through O'Hare Airport, the public, to its loss, reads very little of it. Russell Baker airportslosslittles Etiquette is the grease that makes it possible for all of us to rub together without unnecessary overheating. Russell Baker greasemoraltogether Journalism was being whittled away by a Wall Street theory that profits can be maximized by minimizing the product. Russell Baker profitjournalismwall Reporters thrive on the world's misfortune. For this reason they often take an indecent pleasure in events that dismay the rest of humanity. Russell Baker eventshumanityamerica A skillful playwright might have a good time with the story of the assassination of President William McKinley, and especially with the three most flamboyant political figures involved: Mark Hanna, Theodore Roosevelt, and Emma Goldman. Russell Baker politicalpresidentstories I frankly admit to not knowing who I am. This is why I refuse to buy clothes that will tell people who I want them to think I am. Russell Baker clotheswho-i-amthinking What the New Yorker calls home would seem like a couple of closets to most Americans, yet he manages not only to live there but also to grow trees and cockroaches right on the premises. Russell Baker couplehometree It was Queen Elizabeth who made me a foreign correspondent. Russell Baker queen-elizabethqueensmade Children rarely want to know who their parents were before they were parents, and when age finally stirs their curiosity, there is no parent left to tell them. Russell Baker parentbirthdaychildren Notice, for example, that people who talk about "the joys of childhood" are always adults. Only an adult, utterly remote from the reality of childhood, could suppose it is time of joys. Russell Baker childrenrealitypeople
