WIST Quotations

Lerner, Max -- “Fifty,” New York Post (18 Dec 1952)

Dave — Tue, 17 Feb 2015 14:25:14 +0000

The real sadness of fifty is not that you change so much but that you change so little.

Maxwell "Max" Lerner (1902–1992) American journalist, columnist, educator
“Fifty,” New York Post (18 Dec 1952)

Lerner, Max -- “McCarthyism: The Smell of Decay,” New York Post (5 Apr 1950)

Dave — Tue, 10 Feb 2015 15:08:22 +0000

There is a hate layer of opinion and emotion in America. There will be other McCarthys to come who will be hailed as its heroes.

Maxwell "Max" Lerner (1902–1992) American journalist, columnist, educator
“McCarthyism: The Smell of Decay,” New York Post (5 Apr 1950)

Lerner coined the term "McCarthyism" in this article. In 1954, he wrote, "For my own part I doubt seriously whether the word will outlast the political power of the man from whom it derives."

Lerner, Max -- “The Vigilantes and the Chain of Fear,” New York Post (24 Jun 1953)

Dave — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 11:58:35 +0000

The crime of book purging is that it involves a rejection of the word. For the word is never absolute truth, but only man’s frail and human effort to approach the truth. To reject the word is to reject the human search.

Maxwell "Max" Lerner (1902–1992) American journalist, columnist, educator
“The Vigilantes and the Chain of Fear,” New York Post (24 Jun 1953)

Regarding the McCarthy era book burnings. Reprinted in The Unfinished Country, pt. 4 (1959).

Lerner, Max -- “What Shall I Save?” New York Post (10 Sep 1952)

Dave — Tue, 17 Mar 2015 12:41:33 +0000

In our rich consumers’ civilization we spin cocoons around ourselves and get possessed by our possessions.

Maxwell "Max" Lerner (1902–1992) American journalist, columnist, educator
“What Shall I Save?” New York Post (10 Sep 1952)

Reprinted in The Unfinished Country, pt. 1 (1959).

Lerner, Max -- Actions and Passions: Notes on the Multiple Revolution of Our Time (1949)

Dave — Thu, 02 Oct 2014 12:54:03 +0000

There is no crime in the cynical American calendar more humiliating than to be a sucker.

Maxwell "Max" Lerner (1902–1992) American journalist, columnist, educator
Actions and Passions: Notes on the Multiple Revolution of Our Time (1949)

Lerner, Max -- Actions and Passions (1949)

Dave — Mon, 27 Sep 2021 16:27:00 +0000

When you choose the lesser of two evils, always remember that it is still an evil. You may have to make the choice, but do not fool yourself into thinking it is therefore a good.

Maxwell "Max" Lerner (1902–1992) American journalist, columnist, educator
Actions and Passions (1949)

Lerner, Max -- It Is Later Than You Think: The Need for a Militant Democracy (1939)

Dave — Tue, 24 Mar 2015 11:56:10 +0000

The so-called lessons of history are for the most part the rationalizations of the victors. History is written by the survivors.

Maxwell "Max" Lerner (1902–1992) American journalist, columnist, educator
It Is Later Than You Think: The Need for a Militant Democracy (1939)
(Source)

Lerner, Max -- The Unfinished Country (1959)

Dave — Tue, 03 Feb 2015 13:55:44 +0000

The turning point in the process of growing up is when you discover the core of strength within you that survives all hurt.

Maxwell "Max" Lerner (1902–1992) American journalist, columnist, educator
The Unfinished Country (1959)

Lerner, Max -- Who’s Who in America, “Max Lerner”

Dave — Fri, 10 Dec 2021 17:24:31 +0000

I have believed that we are neither angels nor devils, but humans, with clusters of potentials in both directions. I am neither an optimist nor pessimist, but a possibilist.

Maxwell "Max" Lerner (1902–1992) American journalist, columnist, educator
Who’s Who in America, “Max Lerner”

Summary of his beliefs recorded in his Who's Who entry. Quoted in "Max Lerner, Writer, 89, Is Dead; Humanist on Political Barricades," New York Times (6 Jun 1992).

Lerner, Max -- Column, New York Star (9 Jan 1949)

Dave — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 12:47:40 +0000

A President is best judged by the enemies he makes when he has really hit his stride.

Maxwell "Max" Lerner (1902–1992) American journalist, columnist, educator
Column, New York Star (9 Jan 1949)

Reprinted in "The Education of Harry Truman," pt. 4, The Unfinished Country (1959).