The very hirelings of the press, whose trade it is to buoy up the spirits of the people ... have uttered falsehoods so long, they have played off so many tricks, that their budget seems, at last, to be quite empty.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The author criticizes the press for repeating falsehoods until they have no more tricks to play.
- In plain terms
- The press has repeated so many lies and tricks that they have run out of content.
- What can you take from it?
- Persistent falsehoods eventually exhaust the credibility of the source.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- When does propaganda lose power?
- How do you spot lies?
Another view
It assumes the press has reached its limit, which may not be true.
More from William Cobbett
Nothing is so well calculated to produce a death-like torpor in the country as an extended system of taxation and a great national debt.
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