Work is born in us. We take to it kindly or unkindly. The terms may be easy or harsh, but the contract is binding.
Studs TerkelHeroes are not giant statues framed against a red sky. They are people who say: This is my community, and it is my responsibility to make it better. Interweave all these communities and you really have an America that is back on its feet again. I really think we are gonna have to reassess what constitutes a 'hero'.
Studs TerkelIf 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 TerkelI presumably lost $150,000 in the depression of 1937โon my one stock investmentโbecause I did everything Lehman Brothers told me. I said, well, this is a foolโs procedure . . . buying stock in other peopleโs businesses.
Studs TerkelOn 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 TerkelOne 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