With optimism, you look upon the sunny side of things. People say, Studs, youre an optimist. I never said I was an optimist. I have hope because whats the alternative to hope? Despair? If you have despair, you might as well put your head in the oven. – Studs Terkel
Ive always felt, in all my books, that theres a deep decency in the American people and a native intelligence – providing they have the facts, providing they have the information. – Studs Terkel
Im 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
Something was still there, that something that distinguishes an artist from a performer: the revealing of self. Here I be. Not for long, but here I be. In sensing her mortality, we sensed our own. – Studs Terkel
Although we have, in theory, abolished human slavery, recognized womens rights, and stopped child labor, we continue to enslave other species who, if we simply pay attention, show quite clearly that they experience parental love, pain, and the desire for freedom, just as we do. – Ingrid Newkirk