People are hungry for stories. It's part of our very being. Studs Terkel More Quotes by Studs Terkel More Quotes From 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 realistic. Studs Terkel despair world thinking I suppose if I have an epitaph it would be: "Curiosity Did Not Kill This Cat." I don't see retiring in the sense that we view it - I don't see how I could. Dying at the microphone or at the typewriter would not be bad. Studs Terkel cat curiosity dying I cannot even picture myself retiring. What would I do? I'll always be doing something, asking somebody questions, even if there weren't a book. Studs Terkel retiring book Unless there's a grassroots movement of some sort, with TV and the media in general in the hands of fewer and fewer people - the Murdochians, you know - all we hear is the one point of view. There has to be something communal. Studs Terkel point-of-view people A guy I interviewed for Hard Times says, "What do I remember about the Great Depression? That I was hungry, that's all." Elemental things. Studs Terkel great-depression hard-times guy If we're to have a future in the 21st century, we'll want to be able to say, "Now what was the 20th century like in the United States of America, the most powerful of all countries of that century? What was it like to be an ordinary person?" Studs Terkel 21st-century powerful country When I was asked: "Will shame do it?" Meaning: Will welfare people be shamed into getting respectable work? And I said that shame plays the biggest role there is: The biggest shame is that there is so much abundance around but that so many have so little and so few have so much. That's the shame. Studs Terkel abundance shame people I hope that memory is valued - that we do not lose memory. Studs Terkel loses memories I said, "Suppose communists come out against cancer, do we have to automatically come out for cancer?'" I can't take back that I'm against the poll tax, that I'm against lynching, that I'm for peace. Studs Terkel communist lynching cancer I'm not an optimist. I'm hopeful. Studs Terkel hopeful optimist At a time when pimpery, lick-spittlery, and picking the public's pocket are the order of the day - indeed, officially proclaimed as virtue - the poet must play the madcap to keep his balance. And ours. Studs Terkel balance play order I guess I was seeking some balance in the wildlife of the city as Rachel Carson sought it in nature. In unbalanced times, balance is as difficult to come by as Parsifal's Grail. Studs Terkel wildlife balance cities So how are things going along? Pretty good. Going to be good tomorrow? Hope so. Studs Terkel be-good tomorrow The history of those who shed those other tears, the history of those anonymous millions, is what Terkel wants readers and listeners to come away with. What's it like to be that goofy little soldier, scared stiff, with his bayonet aimed at Christ? What's it like to have been a woman in a defense-plant job during World War II? What's it like to be a kid at the front lines? It's all funny and tragic at the same time. Studs Terkel jobs war funny 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 faith believe people 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 envy believe people An agnostic is a cowardly atheist. Studs Terkel agnostic atheist belief Marvin Miller, I suspect, is the most effective union organizer since John L. Lewis. Studs Terkel marvin unions baseball 'Curiosity never killed this cat’ — that’s what I’d like as my epitaph. Studs Terkel epitaph cat curiosity 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
