The function of the press in society is to inform, but its role in society is to make money.
An Englishman teaching an American about food is like the blind leading the one-eyed.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote humorously suggests that someone lacking proper vision (the blind) is teaching someone with limited vision (the one-eyed), indicating that the teacher is not well-equipped to educate.
A. J. Liebling's quote plays on the humorous juxtaposition of an Englishman's views on food with those of an American, implying that the Englishman, despite lacking a complete perspective, is trying to educate someone who has a slightly better understanding but still limited. It critiques the idea of one person trying to inform another in a field where both may have significant limitations, thus highlighting the absurdity of the situation.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a lighthearted discussion about cultural cuisine differences.
More from A. J. Liebling
All quotes βThe primary requisite for writing well about food is a good appetite. Without this, it is impossible to accumulate, within the allotted span, enough experience of eating to have anything worth setting down.
No sane man can afford to dispense with debilitating pleasures. No ascetic can be considered reliably sane.
A city with one newspaper... is like a man with one eye, and often the eye is glass.
I take a grave view of the press. It is the weak slat under the bed of democracy
A city with one newspaper, or with a morning and an evening paper under one ownership, is like a man with one eye, and often the eye is glass.
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