Media
Gertrude Stein on Information
“Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense.” Gertrude Stein US author in France (1874 – 1946)
Gilbert K. Chesterton on Journalism
“Journalism largely consists of saying ‘Lord Jones is Dead’ to people who never knew that Lord Jones was alive.” Gilbert K. Chesterton English author & mystery novelist (1874 – 1936)
Fred Allen on Hollywood
“You can take all the sincerity in Hollywood, place it in the navel of a firefly and still have room enough for three caraway seeds and a producer’s heart.” Fred Allen US radio comedian (1894 – 1956)
Groucho Marx on TV and Books
“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.” Groucho Marx US comedian with Marx Brothers (1890 – 1977)
Marlon Brando on Television
“If there’s anything unsettling to the stomach, it’s watching actors on television talk about their personal lives.” Marlon Brando US movie actor (1924 – 2004)
Edgar Watson Howe on Lies
“Americans detest all lies except lies spoken in public or printed lies.” Edgar Watson Howe US journalist (1853 – 1937)
Kate Reid on Acting
“Acting is not being emotional, but being able to express emotion.” Kate Reid
Elbert Hubbard on Journalism
“Editor: a person employed by a newspaper, whose business it is to separate the wheat from the chaff, and to see that the chaff is printed.” Elbert Hubbard US author (1856 – 1915)
Dwight D. Eisenhower on Television
“I can think of nothing more boring for the American people than to have to sit in their living rooms for a whole half hour looking at my face on their television screens.” Dwight D. Eisenhower 34th president of US 1953-1961 (1890 – 1969)
Edward R. Murrow on TV
“When the politicians complain that TV turns the proceedings into a circus, it should be made clear that the circus was already there, and that TV has merely demonstrated that not all the performers are well trained.” Edward R. Murrow US broadcast journalist & newscaster (1908 – 1965)
John Kenneth Galbraith on Thinking
“The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking.” John Kenneth Galbraith US (Canadian-born) administrator & economist (1908 – 2006)
Alfred Hitchcock on Media
“Seeing a murder on television… can help work off one’s antagonisms. And if you haven’t any antagonisms, the commercials will give you some.” Alfred Hitchcock British movie director (1899 – 1980)
John Wanamaker on Advertising
“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” John Wanamaker US department store merchant (1838 – 1922)
Edith Sitwell on Truth
“The public will believe anything, so long as it is not founded on truth.” Edith Sitwell English biographer, critic, novelist, & poet (1887 – 1964)
Hodding Carter on Television
“Television news is like a lightning flash. It makes a loud noise, lights up everything around it, leaves everything else in darkness and then is suddenly gone.” Hodding Carter
Lyndon B. Johnson on Politics
“If one morning I walked on top of the water across the Potomac River, the headline that afternoon would read ‘President Can’t Swim’.” Lyndon B. Johnson 36th president of US (1908 – 1973)
Clive Barnes on Television
“Television is the first truly democratic culture – the first culture available to everybody and entirely governed by what the people want. The most terrifying thing is what people do want.” Clive Barnes