Russell Baker quotes

Russell Baker, a renowned American journalist and author, made profound contributions to the field of literature and journalism. With a remarkable career spanning several decades, Baker cemented his legacy as a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer. Born in Virginia in 1925, he captivated readers with his insightful commentary and sharp wit. As a respected columnist for The New York Times, Baker's writing often tackled political and social issues, resonating with millions of readers globally. Additionally, he authored numerous best-selling books, showcasing his versatility as a writer. From his celebrated memoir "Growing Up" to his remarkable works on American history, Baker's literary prowess continues to inspire and influence a new generation of writers. Discover the brilliant mind and captivating words of Russell Baker, a true literary genius.

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Poetry is so vital to us until school spoils it.

- Russell Baker

When it comes to cars, only two varieties of people are possible - cowards and fools.

- Russell Baker

Children rarely want to know who their parents were before they were parents, and when age finally stirs their curiosity, there is no parent left to tell them.

- Russell Baker

Live by publicity, you'll probably die by publicity.

- Russell Baker

Is fuel efficiency really what we need most desperately? I say that what we really need is a car that can be shot when it breaks down.

- Russell Baker

In America nothing dies easier than tradition.

- Russell Baker

I gave up on new poetry myself 30 years ago when most of it began to read like coded messages passing between lonely aliens in a hostile world.

- Russell Baker

People who say you're just as old as you feel are all wrong, fortunately.

- Russell Baker

An educated person is one who has learned that information almost always turns out to be at best incomplete and very often false, misleading, fictitious, mendacious - just dead wrong.

- Russell Baker

Objects can be classified scientifically into three major categories: those that don't work, those that break down and those that get lost.

- Russell Baker

In America, it is sport that is the opiate of the masses.

- Russell Baker

Anticipating that most poetry will be worse than carrying heavy luggage through O'Hare Airport, the public, to its loss, reads very little of it.

- Russell Baker

A group of politicians deciding to dump a President because his morals are bad is like the Mafia getting together to bump off the Godfather for not going to church on Sunday.

- Russell Baker

People seem to enjoy things more when they know a lot of other people have been left out of the pleasure.

- Russell Baker

Misery no longer loves company. Nowadays it insists on it.

- Russell Baker

Caution: These verses may be hazardous to your solemnity.

- Russell Baker

It seems to be a law in American life that whatever enriches us anywhere except in the wallet inevitably becomes uneconomic.

- Russell Baker

Americans like fat books and thin women.

- Russell Baker

Inanimate objects can be classified scientifically into three major categories; those that don't work, those that break down and those that get lost.

- Russell Baker

Reporters thrive on the world's misfortune. For this reason they often take an indecent pleasure in events that dismay the rest of humanity.

- Russell Baker

Don't try to make children grow up to be like you, or they may do it.

- Russell Baker

You can't enjoy light verse with a heavy heart.

- Russell Baker

The only thing I was fit for was to be a writer, and this notion rested solely on my suspicion that I would never be fit for real work, and that writing didn't require any.

- Russell Baker

In an age when the fashion is to be in love with yourself, confessing to be in love with somebody else is an admission of unfaithfulness to one's beloved.

- Russell Baker

Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it.

- Russell Baker

Usually, terrible things that are done with the excuse that progress requires them are not really progress at all, but just terrible things.

- Russell Baker

The goal of all inanimate objects is to resist man and ultimately defeat him.

- Russell Baker

Watergate left Washington a city ravaged by honesty.

- Russell Baker

A man doesn't amount to something because he has been successful at a third-rate career like journalism. It is evidence, that's all: evidence that if he buckled down and worked hard, he might some day do something really worth doing.

- Russell Baker

While it is very sturdy of comfortable men to point out that life is unfair, the people it is unfair to are not apt to be morally or philosophically elevated by the announcement. If you are going to preach that unfairness is inescapable for some, good sense suggests that you also accept the inevitability of beastly behavior by people who have to carry the burden.

- Russell Baker