Edward R. Murrow Quotations

As promised in class, some quotations from the real Edward R. Murrow:

Our history will be what we make it.

Just because your voice reaches halfway around the world doesn't mean you are wiser than when it reached only to the end of the bar.

We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven into an age of unreason if we dig deep into our history and remember we are not descended from fearful men.

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.

Everyone is a prisoner of his own experiences. No one can eliminate prejudices – just recognize them.

No one can terrorize a whole nation, unless we are all his accomplices.

If none of us ever read a book that was “dangerous,” had a friend who was “different” or joined an organization that advocated “change,” we would all be just the kind of people Joe McCarthy wants. Whose fault is that? Not really [McCarthy’s]. He didn’t create this situation of fear. He merely exploited it, and rather successfully.

Most of us probably feel we couldn’t be free without newspapers, and that is the real reason we want the newspapers to be free.

We cannot make good news out of bad practice.
[Reply to Senate critics who wanted him to ignore racial strife in order to project a better image abroad.]

The speed of communications is wondrous to behold. It is also true that speed can multiply the distribution of information that we know to be untrue.

If we were to do the Second Coming of Christ in color for a full hour, there would be a considerable number of stations which would decline to carry it on the grounds that a Western or a quiz show would be more profitable.