We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. When the loyal opposition dies, I think the soul of America dies with it.
Interpretation
Dissent is a crucial part of democracy, and equating it with disloyalty undermines society.
In this quote, Edward R. Murrow emphasizes the importance of dissent as a form of loyalty to a democratic society. He warns that silencing opposing viewpoints or equating them with disloyalty can lead to a loss of the very essence of America, highlighting that healthy opposition enriches democracy rather than detracts from it.
In practice
In a discussion about political activism during a debate.
We have currently a built-in allergy to unpleasant or disturbing information. Our mass media reflect this. But unless we get up off our fat surpluses and recognize that television in the main is being used to distract, delude, amuse, and insulate us, then television and those who finance it, those who look at it, and those who work at it, may see a totally different picture too late.
Everyone is a prisoner of his own experiences. No one can eliminate prejudices - just recognize them.
One of the basic troubles with radio and television news is that both instruments have grown up as an incompatible combination of show business, advertising and news. Each of the three is a rather bizarre and demanding profession. And when you get all three under one roof, the dust never settles.
Speaking of Sir Winston Churchill: He mobilized the English language and sent it into battle.
We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home.
The speed of communications is wondrous to behold. It is also true that speed can multiply the distribution of information that we know to be untrue.
I am a creationist and an evolutionist. Evolution is God's, or Nature's method of creation. Creation is not an event that happened in 4004 BC; it is a process that began some 10 billion years ago and is still under way.
Most modern calendars mar the sweet simplicity of our lives by reminding us that each day that passes is the anniversary of some perfectly uninteresting event.
If we did not bring to the examinations of our instincts a knowledge of their comparative dignity we could never learn it from them.
The known is finite, the unknown infinite; spiritually we find ourselves on a tiny island in the middle of a boundless ocean of the inexplicable. It is our task, from generation to generation, to drain a small amount of additional land.
Give a man religion without reminding him of his filth, and the result will be arrogance in a three- piece suit.
My aunt once said that the world would never find peace until men fell at their women's feet and asked for forgiveness.
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