"I always love to quote Albert Einstein because nobody dares contradict him"
About this Quote
Studs Terkel’s line is a sly confession dressed up as a joke: authority is a shortcut, and everyone knows it. By invoking Einstein, he’s not celebrating genius so much as spotlighting how genius gets used - as a conversational trump card, a borrowed lab coat slipped on to make an argument look inevitable. The humor lands because it reverses what we pretend to value. We tell ourselves ideas win on merit; Terkel points out that names often win on intimidation.
The intent isn’t to mock Einstein but to needle the audience’s reflexive deference. “Nobody dares contradict him” isn’t really about physics; it’s about social risk. Disagreeing with a sainted figure makes you look petty, ignorant, or unserious, even when the quote is vague, misapplied, or flat-out fake. Terkel, a journalist steeped in everyday voices, understood that public discourse isn’t a neutral marketplace of facts. It’s a status economy where credibility can be outsourced to icons.
The subtext carries a second barb aimed at the speaker’s side of the bargain: quoting Einstein can be a rhetorical crutch, a way to dodge the harder work of persuading, explaining, or admitting uncertainty. Terkel’s self-aware “I always love to” keeps it from turning preachy; he implicates himself, too. Coming from a chronicler of ordinary Americans, the quip reads like a warning label for media culture: beware arguments that arrive with celebrity endorsements attached, especially when the endorsement is from someone too revered to be questioned.
The intent isn’t to mock Einstein but to needle the audience’s reflexive deference. “Nobody dares contradict him” isn’t really about physics; it’s about social risk. Disagreeing with a sainted figure makes you look petty, ignorant, or unserious, even when the quote is vague, misapplied, or flat-out fake. Terkel, a journalist steeped in everyday voices, understood that public discourse isn’t a neutral marketplace of facts. It’s a status economy where credibility can be outsourced to icons.
The subtext carries a second barb aimed at the speaker’s side of the bargain: quoting Einstein can be a rhetorical crutch, a way to dodge the harder work of persuading, explaining, or admitting uncertainty. Terkel’s self-aware “I always love to” keeps it from turning preachy; he implicates himself, too. Coming from a chronicler of ordinary Americans, the quip reads like a warning label for media culture: beware arguments that arrive with celebrity endorsements attached, especially when the endorsement is from someone too revered to be questioned.
Quote Details
| Topic | Witty One-Liners |
|---|
More Quotes by Studs
Add to List
