Life & Wisdom Quote by Leslie Charteris

Charteris nails the predatory cheer baked into public attention: the “gleam in their eyes” isn’t admiration, it’s appetite. “Telegraphs” is doing quiet work here, implying a signal that’s both unmistakable and impersonal. No one has to say it out loud. Everyone in the room already knows what kind of story they want, and it’s not a nuanced profile.

The line pivots on a grim little equation: headline = disparagement. Charteris isn’t just complaining about the press; he’s describing a feedback loop between audience desire and media incentive. A “headline” promises visibility, but the visibility people crave is oddly the kind that bruises someone else. Disparaging copy isn’t an unfortunate byproduct of news gathering; it’s positioned as the point. That’s why the final clause lands with such deadpan certainty: “nothing makes such good copy as a feud.” The cynicism is crisp, almost amused, as if he’s watching human nature perform one of its most reliable tricks.

Context matters: Charteris built his career in popular fiction, where pacing, conflict, and punchy stakes are the engine. He’s importing that storyteller’s clarity into social critique, suggesting that real life has been rewritten to satisfy narrative demand. Feuds are “good copy” because they package complexity into teams, villains, and plot, letting readers consume moral drama without the burden of understanding. The subtext is uncomfortable: we aren’t merely entertained by conflict; we’re complicit in commissioning it.