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| 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)
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| 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)
