Hope never trickles down. It always springs up.

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.

You can work next to a guy for months without even knowing his name.

People are hungry for stories. It's part of our very being.

All the other books ask, 'What's it like?' What was World War II like for the young kid at Normandy, or what is work like for a woman having a job for the first time in her life? What's it like to be black or white?

Work is born in us. We take to it kindly or unkindly. The terms may be easy or harsh, but the contract is binding.

Religion obviously played a role in this book and the previous book, too.