Studs Terkel

Studs Terkel

Louis "Studs" Terkel (May 16, 1912 – October 31, 2008) was an American author, historian, actor, and broadcaster. He received the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1985 for “The Good War”, and is best remembered for his oral histories of common Americans, and for hosting a long-running radio show in Chicago.

Read more about Studs Terkel:  Early Life, Career, Later Life, Selected Works

Famous quotes by studs terkel:

    My job as a reservationist was very routine, computerized ... I had no free will. I was just part of that stupid computer.
    Beryl Simpson, U.S. employment counselor; former airline reservationist. As quoted in Working, book 2, by Studs Terkel (1973)

    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 (b. 1912)

    The first rule of education for me was discipline. Discipline is the keynote to learning. Discipline has been the great factor in my life. I discipline myself to do everything—getting up in the morning, walking, dancing, exercise. If you won’t have discipline, you won’t have a nation. We can’t have permissiveness. When someone comes in and says, ‘Oh, your room is so quiet,’ I know I’ve been successful.
    Rose Hoffman, U.S. public school third-grade teacher. As quoted in Working, book 8, by Studs Terkel (1973)

    ... you can have a couple of seconds to rest in. I mean seconds. You have about two seconds to wait while the blanker is on the felt drawing the moisture out. You can stand and relax those two seconds—three seconds at most. You wish you didn’t have to work in a factory. When it’s all you know what to do, that’s what you do.
    Grace Clements, U.S. factory worker. As quoted in Working, book 5, by Studs Terkel (1973)

    Socialite women meet socialite men and mate and breed socialite children so that we can fund small opera companies and ballet troupes because there is no government subsidy.
    Sugar Rautbord, U.S. socialite fund-raiser and self-described ‘trash’ novelist. As quoted in The Great Divide, book 2, section 7, by Studs Terkel (1988)