Henry Luce Quotes & Sayings

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

I became a journalist to come as close as possible to the heart of the world. — Henry R. Luce

To see, and to show, is the mission now undertaken by Life. — Henry R. Luce

Journalism is the art of collecting varying kinds of information (commonly called news) which a few people possess and of transmitting it to a much larger number of people who are supposed to desire to share it. — Henry R. Luce

Time should make enemies and Life should make friends. — Henry R. Luce

To see life. To see the world. To watch the faces of the poor, and the gestures of the proud. To see strange things. Machines, armies, multitudes, and shadows in the jungle. To see, and to take pleasure in seeing. To see and be instructed. To see and be amazed. (Describing the powers of photography; written for the launch of LIFE Magazine, 1936.) — Henry R. Luce

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. — Henry R. Luce

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. — Henry R. Luce

It's a fine, warm day," Henry replied. "I thought a spot of fishing?"
"Just the thing!" said Felix. "Will you join us, Lucy?" Lucy felt Kitty and Sophia staring at her. Well-bred ladies, evidently, did not fish.
"Oh, no! I assure you, Mr. Crowley-Cumberbatch, I have given up those hoyden pursuits of my youth." She turned to Toby. "I haven't been fishing in ages. I can't remember the last time."
"Really, Luce?" Toby sounded incredulous. "Henry - is it true?"
Henry sawed away at a slice of ham. "If you count six days as ages, then I suppose it's true. But if you can't remember six days back, Lucy, and you've forgotten Felix's Christian name, I'm concerned for you. Perhaps you've been spending too much time with Aunt Matilda. — Tessa Dare

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

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

A missionary deals with all the important people of the community, but he is never really one of them. — Henry R. Luce

It's easier to teach a poet how to read a balance sheet than it is to teach an accountant how to write. — Henry R. Luce

Until he (Time's founder Henry Luce) arrived, news was crime and politics. — David Halberstam

As a proponent of big-picture analysis, media pioneer and Time founder Henry Luce asserted, there was more money to be made in slow news than fast news. — David Halberstam

The author writes that the central conflict within journalist and seller of the American way Henry Luce was between his curiosity and his certitude. — David Halberstam

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. — Henry R. Luce

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. — Henry R. Luce

I urge each of you to think seriously about the vision Dr. Daniel puts forth and think about what you can do to make it happen. — Henry R. Luce

[On Vice-President Henry A. Wallace:] Much of what Mr. Wallace calls his global thinking is, no matter how you slice it, still globaloney. — Clare Boothe Luce

Henry Luce to his Time magazine writers: Tell the history of our time through the people who make it. — Walter Isaacson

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. — Henry R. Luce

O flower-de-luce, bloom on, and let the river Linger to kiss thy feet! O flower of song, bloom on, and make forever The world more fair and sweet. — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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