35 Edward R Murrow Quotes From The World War II Broadcast Journalist
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Edward R Murrow was a war correspondent and a broadcast journalist during the Second World War.
He attended the Washington State College at Pullman in Whitman County. He gained popularity because of his live radio broadcasts during the war times for Columbia Broadcasting System.
His sign-off catch phrase "Good night and good luck" became quite famous. Following are some of the best quotes from Edward R Murrow. One of the major television broadcasts that many people may still remember the interview of Edward R Murrow and Joseph McCarthy and how Senator Joseph McCarthy was held responsible for his notorious actions.
If you like this article check out other quotes articles [Ian Fleming quotes] and Alan Turing quotes.
Best Edward R Murrow Quotes
Here are some of Edward R Murrow famous quotes. Each quote is taken from his radio broadcasts, or his time as a broadcast journalist on the radio.
1. “Don't be deluded into believing that the titular heads of the networks control what appears on their networks. They all have better taste.”
- Edward R Murrow.
2. “We cannot make good news out of bad practice.”
- Edward R Murrow.
3. “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 road.”
- Edward R Murrow.
4. “A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.”
- Edward R Murrow.
5. "If there are any historians about fifty or a hundred years from now, they will there find recorded in black and white, or color, evidence of decadence, escapism and insulation from the realities of the world in which we live.”
- Edward R Murrow.
6. “A reporter is always concerned with tomorrow. There's nothing tangible of yesterday. All I can say I've done is agitate the air ten or fifteen minutes and then boom - it's gone.”
- Edward R Murrow.
7. “People say conversation is a lost art; how often I have wished it were.”
- Edward R Murrow.
8. “It has always seemed to me the real art in this business is not so much moving information or guidance or policy five or 10,000 miles. That is an electronic problem. The real art is to move it the last three feet in face to face conversation.”
- Edward R Murrow.
9. "It is well to remember that freedom through the press is the thing that comes first. 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."
- Edward R Murrow.
10. "All I can hope to teach my son is to tell the truth and fear no man.”
- Edward R Murrow.
11. “Learn your language well and command it well, and you will have the first component to life.”
- Edward R Murrow.
12. "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."
- Edward R Murrow.
Famous Edward R Murrow Quotes
Here are some of the famous American journalist Edward R Murrow quotes. These quotes from the journalist is taken from his television broadcasts or radio news.
13. “Unless we get up off our fat surpluses and recognize that television in the main is being used to distract, delude, amuse, and insulate people, then broadcast television and those who first finance it, those who look at it, and those who work at it, may see a totally different picture too late.”
- Edward R Murrow.
14. “I simply cannot accept that there are, on every story, two equal and logical sides to an argument.”
- Edward R Murrow.
15. "If you believe that this war will be decided on the home front, then you must believe that radio used as an instrument of war is one of the most powerful weapons a nation possesses."
- Edward R Murrow.
16. “The newest computer can merely compound, at speed, the oldest problem in the relations between human beings, and in the end the communicator will be confronted with the old problem, of what to say and how to say it.”
- Edward R Murrow.
17. “A satellite has no conscience.”
- Edward R Murrow.
18. "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."
- Edward R Murrow.
19. “I am seized with an abiding fear regarding what these two instruments are doing to our society, our culture, and our heritage. Our history will be what we make it."
- Edward R Murrow.
20. “Tuberculosis, starvation, fatigue, and there are many who have no desire to live.”
- Edward R Murrow.
21. “Everyone is a prisoner of his own experiences. No one can eliminate prejudices - just recognize them.”
- Edward R Murrow.
22. “The politician in my country seeks votes, affection, and respect, in that order. With few notable exceptions, they are simply men who want to be loved.”
- Edward R Murrow.
23. “This instrument radio can teach. It can illuminate, yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise, it's nothing but wires and lights in a box.”
- Edward R Murrow.
24. "Except for those who think in terms of pious platitudes or dogma or narrow prejudice and those thoughts we aren't interested in, people don't speak their beliefs easily, or publicly."
- Edward R Murrow.
Inspirational Edward R Murrow Quotes
Here are some of the inspiring quotes from Edward R Murrow.
25. “We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason.”
- Edward R Murrow.
26. “To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; credible we must be truthful.”
- Edward R Murrow.
27. “Fame is morally neutral.”
- Edward R Murrow.
28. "The best speakers know enough to be scared…the only difference between the pros and the novices is that the pros have trained the butterflies to fly in formation."
- Edward R Murrow.
29. “No one can terrorize a whole nation unless we are all his accomplices.”
- Edward R Murrow.
30. “Just once in a while, let us exalt the importance of ideas and information.”
- Edward R Murrow.
31. “We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. When the loyal opposition dies, I think the soul of America dies with it.”
- Edward R Murrow.
32. “Language is the memory of man. Without it, he has no past, a paltry present, and an empty future. With it, he can bring his dreams to life.”
- Edward R Murrow.
33. "We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home."
- Edward R Murrow.
34. "We're not descended from fearful men - not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend causes that were, for the moment, unpopular."
- Edward R Murrow.
35. “Language is one of the greatest gifts man has devised for himself. It ranks, alongside the discovery of fire and the wheel, as a major influence in making modern man what he is today.”
- Edward R Murrow.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Edward R Murrow quotes then why not take a look at George Patton quotes, or [Harry Truman quotes].
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Bachelor of Arts and Law specializing in Political Science and Intellectual Property Rights
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With a wealth of international experience spanning Europe, Africa, North America, and the Middle East, Anusuya brings a unique perspective to her work as a Content Assistant and Content Updating Coordinator. She holds a law degree from India and has practiced law in India and Kuwait. Anusuya is a fan of rap music and enjoys a good cup of coffee in her free time. Currently, she is working on her novel, "Mr. Ivory Merchant".
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