One of the definitive works on gay life. Through this collective testimony we may come to understand what it is to be 'the other'; in short, the other part of ourselves. Studs Terkel More Quotes by Studs Terkel More Quotes From Studs Terkel Something was still there, that something that distinguishes an artist from a performer: the revealing of self. Here I be. Not forlong, but here I be. In sensing her mortality, we sensed our own. Studs Terkel jazz artist self I'm celebrated for celebrating the uncelebrated. Studs Terkel recognition celebrate You know, 'power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely'? It's the same with powerlessness. Absolute powerlessness corrupts absolutely. Einstein said everything had changed since the atom was split, except the way we think. We have to think anew. Studs Terkel splits atoms thinking One day I visited a guy who had made a fortune as a broker. He was sitting in his office with his computer. I hire people from here and make deals from this room, he told me. Then he took me to the trading room. Nobody was talking to anybody else, the place was silent as a tomb, they were all sitting there watching their terminals - a great word, terminal. I tell you, it scares the crap out of me. Studs Terkel office talking people 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 optimism despair people 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, well, this is a fool’s procedure . . . buying stock in other people’s businesses. Studs Terkel buying brother people 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 leadership people thinking I am paraphrasing Einstein. I love to do that: nobody dares contradict me. Studs Terkel paraphrasing dare You can work next to a guy for months without even knowing his name. Studs Terkel guy knowing names We're born eventually to die, of course. But what happens between the time we're born and we die? We're born to live. One is a realist if one hopes. Studs Terkel realist courses born On the evening bus, the tense, pinched faces of young file clerks and elderly secretaries tell us more than we care to know. On the expressways, middle management men pose without grace behind their wheels as they flee city and job. Studs Terkel elderly jobs men Cannot Hannah Arendt's 'banality of evil' be subject to transposition: the evil of banality? Studs Terkel banality subjects evil 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 vocabulary nice use When I put the plate down, you don't hear a sound. When I pick up a glass, I want it to be just right. When someone says, "How come you're just a waitress?" I say, "Don't you think you deserve being served by me?" Studs Terkel glasses sound thinking I want a language that speaks the truth. Studs Terkel truth want writing I have a big mouth, and I never met a petition I didn't like, so of course in the McCarthy days I got in trouble. Studs Terkel bigs trouble mouths I thought, if ever there were a time to write a book about hope, it's now. Studs Terkel ifs writing book Once you wake up the human animal, you can't put it back to sleep again. Studs Terkel wake-up sleep animal In order for us, black and white, to disenthrall ourselves from the harshest slavemaster, racism, we must disinter our buried history.... We are all the Pilgrim, setting out on this journey. Studs Terkel black-and-white journey order It is still the arena of those who dream of the City of Man and those who envision a City of Things. The battle appears to be forever joined. The armies, ignorant and enlightened, clash by day as well as night. Chicago is America's dream, writ large. And flamboyantly. Studs Terkel army dream night
