Eric Sevareid Quotes

• The biggest big business in America is not steel, automobiles, or television. It is the manufacture, refinement and distribution of anxiety.

  Eric Sevareid

  America, Anxiety, Steel

  Eric Sevareid (1964). “This is Eric Sevareid”

  62 Copy quote

• Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we're here for something else besides ourselves.

  Eric Sevareid

  Christmas, Xmas, Holiday

  58 Copy quote

• Better to trust the man who is frequently in error than the one who is never in doubt.

  Eric Sevareid

  Trust, Men, Errors

  31 Copy quote

• The bigger the information media, the less courage and freedom they follow. Bigness means weakness.

  Eric Sevareid

  Courage, Freedom, Mean

  27 Copy quote

• You can't know who you are, as a nation or a people, unless you know where you've been.

  Eric Sevareid

  People, Knows, Nations

  19 Copy quote

• The major cause of problems are solutions

  Eric Sevareid

  Causes, Problem, Solutions

  20 Copy quote

• The difference between the men and the boys in politics is, and always has been , that the boys want to be something, while the men want to do something.

  Eric Sevareid

  Boys, Men, Differences

  33 Copy quote

• It is perfectly clear that people, given no alternative, will choose tyranny over anarchy, because anarchy is the worst tyranny of all... The special nature of liberties is that they can be defended only as long as we still have them. So the very first signs of their erosion must be resisted, whether the issue be domestic surveillance by the Army, so-called preventive detention, or the freedom of corporate television, or that of a campus newspaper.

  Eric Sevareid

  Army, Erosion, Issues

  20 Copy quote

• Next to power without honor, the most dangerous thing in the world is power without humor.

  Eric Sevareid

  Humor, Power, Honor

  35 Copy quote

• Tenacity is a pretty fair substitute for bravery, and the best form of tenacity I know is expressed in a Danish fur trapper's principle: "The next mile is the only one a person really has to make."

  Eric Sevareid

  Bravery, Principles, Fur

  16 Copy quote

• Wisdom is essential in a president, the appearance of wisdom will do in a candidate.

  Eric Sevareid

  Wisdom, President, Essentials

  26 Copy quote

• With breathtaking rapidity, we are destroying all that was lovely to look at and turning America into a prison house of the spirit. The affluent society, with relentless single-minded energy, is turning our cities, most of suburbia and most of our roadways into the most affluent slum on earth.

  Eric Sevareid

  Cities, America, House

  Eric Sevareid (1964). “This is Eric Sevareid”

  20 Copy quote

• I'm sort of a pessimist about tomorrow and an optimist about the day after tomorrow.

  Eric Sevareid

  Tomorrow, Pessimist, Optimist

  22 Copy quote

• It is only people with a sense of personal responsibility who can help others. It is only people with a sense of personal responsibility who can be helped in a lasting way.

  Eric Sevareid

  Responsibility, Helping Others, People

  14 Copy quote

• The five happiest people I have ever met all had this strange little quirk of referring to their jobs as a 'calling.'

  Eric Sevareid

  Jobs, People, Calling

  15 Copy quote

• No man was ever more than about nine meals away from crime or suicide.

  Eric Sevareid

  Suicide, Men, Meals

  20 Copy quote

• For children, Christmas is anticipation. For adults, Christmas is memory.

  Eric Sevareid

  Christmas, Children, Memories

  8 Copy quote

• There are only two kinds of people in the world, suckers and people that can be had. Everyone can be had, but a sucker will always bet you $50 that he can't be had. Maybe magicians are around to remind us we can all be had, so we don't become suckers.

  Eric Sevareid

  Two, People, Magic

  14 Copy quote

• I have never quite grasped the worry about the power of the press. After all, it speaks with a thousand voices, in constant dissonance.

  Eric Sevareid

  Voice, Worry, Never Quit

  15 Copy quote

• The most distinguished hallmark of the American society is and always has been change.

  Eric Sevareid

  Hallmark, Distinguished, American Society

  Eric Sevareid (1964). “This is Eric Sevareid”

  12 Copy quote

• Consultant: an ordinary guy more than 50 miles from home.

  Eric Sevareid

  Home, Knowledge, Guy

  Eric Sevareid (1964). “This is Eric Sevareid”

  10 Copy quote

• Brotherhood is not so wild a dream as those, who profit by postponing it, pretend.

  Eric Sevareid

  Dream, Brotherhood, Profit

  15 Copy quote

• Men want power in order to do something. Boys want power in order to be something.

  Eric Sevareid

  Boys, Men, Order

  11 Copy quote

• The best way to get thrown out of the columnists' club is to be uncertain about anything whatsoever on this earth.

  Eric Sevareid

  Media, Earth, Clubs

  Eric Sevareid (1964). “This is Eric Sevareid”

  7 Copy quote

• People, if given the choice between anarchy and dictatorship, will always choose dictatorship because anarchy is the worst dictatorship of all.

  Eric Sevareid

  People, Choices, Anarchy

  10 Copy quote

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