Friday, May 24, 2013

Am I missing any good printing quotations?


T. E. Lawrence, British Army Colonel & Author, a.k.a. "Lawrence of Arabia"

“The palest ink is better than the best memory.”
- Chinese Proverb

The above quotation delighted me when it was recently published as the Forbes Thought of the Day.  I had never heard it before, and it starting me wondering if I was missing out on any other compelling sayings about printing and print.

Unfortunately, since then my research has only yielded the following relatively short list.  If you know of any other good quotations about ink, presses, printing, and the phenomenon of print, please forward them to me. 

“Words, once they are printed, have a life of their own.”
- Carol Burnett (1936 - )

“He who first shortened the labor of Copyists by device of Movable Types was disbanding hired armies and cashiering most Kings and Senates, and creating a whole new Democratic world, he had invented the Art of printing.”
- Thomas Carlyle (1795 – 1881)

“American detest all lies except lies spoken in public or printed lies.”
- Edgar Watson Howe (1853 – 1937)

“The printing press is the greatest weapon in the armoury of the modern commander.”
- T. E. Lawrence (1888 – 1935)
  
Wendell Phillips, Abolitionist, Advocate for Native Americans, Lawyer
“Every school boy and school girl who has arrived at the age of reflection ought to know something about the history of the art of printing.”
- Horace Mann (1796 – 1859)

“I suppose that writers should, in a way, feel flattered by the censorship laws.  They show a primitive fear and dread at the fearful magic of print.”
- John Mortimer (1923 – 2009)

“What gunpowder did for war the printing press has done for the mind.”
- Wendell Phillips (1811 – 1884)
  
“Nothing in fine print is ever good news.”
- Andy Rooney (1919 – 2011)

“The printing press is either the greatest blessing or the greatest curse of modern times.  Sometimes one forgets which it is.”
- E. F. Schumacher (1911 – 1977)

“The big print giveth, and the fine print taketh away.”
- Fulton J. Sheen (1895 – 1979)

“With a face like mine, I do better in print.”
- Jerry Springer (1944 - )

“Print is the sharpest and strongest weapon of our party.”
- Joseph Stalin (1878 – 1953)

“Be careful about reading health books.  You might die of a misprint.”
- Mark Twain (1835 – 1910)

“Sacred to the memory of printing, the art preservative of all arts. This was first invented about the year 1440.” [Latin, “Memoriae sacrum Typographia Ars artium omnium Conservatrix Hic primum inventa Circa annum mccccxl.”]
- Unattributed Author

“We are nauseated by the sight of trivial personalities decomposing in the eternity of print.”
- Virginia Woolf (1882 – 1941)

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