Quotes from Henry R. Luce

I became a journalist to come as close as possible to the heart of the world.

The world of the 20th century, if it is to come to life in any viability of health and vigor, must be to a significant degree an American century.

To see, and to show, is the mission now undertaken by Life.

Publishing is a business, but journalism never was and is not essentially a business. Nor is it a profession.

I suggest that what we want to do is not to leave to posterity a great institution, but to leave behind a great tradition of journalism ably practiced in our time.

Not much longer shall we have time for reading lessons of the past. An inexorable present calls us to the defense of a great future.

I am all for titillating trivialities. I am all for the epic touch. I could almost say that everything in Time, should be either titillating or epic or starkly, supercurtly factual.

Show me a man who claims he is objective and I'll show you a man with illusions.

There are men who can write poetry, and there are men who can read balance sheets. The men who can read balance sheets cannot write.

There are men who can write poetry, and there are men who can read balance sheets. The men who can read balance sheets cannot write.

Of necessity, we made the discovery that it is easier to turn poets into business journalists than to turn bookkeepers into writers.

Business, more than any other occupation, is a continual dealing with the future; it is a continual calculation, an instinctive exercise in foresight.