Dan Rather Quotes & Sayings

Turn the lights down, the party just got wilder. — Dan Rather

It's the American way: if you don't vote, you don't get to whine. — Dan Rather

I got addicted. News, particularly daily news, is more addictive than crack cocaine, more addictive than heroin, more addictive than cigarettes. — Dan Rather

I still love following and thinking about politics. I enjoy recommending important journalism I read or see from other sources. — Dan Rather

I had just turned 10-years-old when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and plunged America into World War II. — Dan Rather

The press is a watchdog. Not an attack dog. Not a lapdog. A watchdog. Now, a watchdog can't be right all the time. He doesn't bark only when he sees or smells something that's dangerous. A good watchdog barks at things that are suspicious. — Dan Rather

Very big business is in bed with very big government in Washington, and has more to do with what the average person sees, hears and reads than most people know. — Dan Rather

The Michigan Republican primary apparently is tighter than Willie Nelson's headband. — Dan Rather

I was really lucky to work at CBS news. I was blessed to be able to live my dream in many ways at CBS news. — Dan Rather

It's the ratings, stupid, don't you know? They've got us putting more fuzz and wuzz on the air, cop-show stuff. — Dan Rather

A lot of tight Senate races out there. Let's hit those chips with another dash of salsa, Ed Bradley. — Dan Rather

Editing can alter the original meaning and context, and computers can alter the image itself. The camera can also be manipulated. At the very least, it must be turned in one direction - only one direction at a time ... Who chooses what direction to point the camera, and why? — Dan Rather

Stay with CBS now for more news, including: Is there a pall over the mall as holiday shoppers think small? — Dan Rather

From the streets of Cairo and the Arab Spring, to Occupy Wall Street, from the busy political calendar to the aftermath of the tsunami in Japan, social media was not only sharing the news but driving it. — Dan Rather

For years Don Imus was just - boy, he was merciless in his criticism of me. Maybe it was justified, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. — Dan Rather

If you're in Journalism and you're looking for friends, you should get a dog. — Dan Rather

The American Dream is one of the greatest ideas in the history of human achievement ... It thrives today in an age when its core components of freedom and opportunity are open to more Americans than ever before. It holds a real, identifiable place in the American heart and mind, and it informs the aspirations of everyone from farmers to software developers, from detectives to bankers, from soldiers to social workers ... It defines us as a people, even as we add to its meaning with each new chapter in our national experience and our individual actions. — Dan Rather

You'd better do what you feel good about doing. If we [try] to figure out what it is the audience wants and then try to deliver it to them, we're lost souls on the ghost ship forever. — Dan Rather

And for whatever reason I've loved the news since I can remember. I loved it when I was in elementary school. — Dan Rather

The great lesson my mother and father gave me was almost invisible. It was a strong sense of being rooted. — Dan Rather

If I didn't have a front-row seat on history, it was at least a seat on the aisle. — Dan Rather

On Capitol Hill, the Republican-controlled House voted mostly along party lines tonight to pass President Bush's federal budget blueprint. This includes his big tax cut plan, partly bankrolled, critics say, through cuts in many federal aid programs for children and education. — Dan Rather

As someone who's been covering presidential campaigns since the 1950s, I have no delusions about political reporting. Candidates bargaining access to get the kind of news coverage they want is nothing new. — Dan Rather

Americans will put up with anything provided it doesn't block traffic. — Dan Rather

A free and truly independent press - fiercely independent when necessary - is the red beating heart of freedom and democracy. — Dan Rather

He [Mikhail Gorbachev] has, as many great leaders have, impressive eyes ... There's a kind of laser-beam stare, a forced quality, you get from Gorbachev that does not come across as something peaceful within himself. It's the look of a kind of human volcano, or he'd probably like to describe it as a human nuclear energy plant. — Dan Rather

Writing is the rock on which everything is built. — Dan Rather

A college degree is the key to realizing the American dream, well worth the financial sacrifice because it is supposed to open the door to a world of opportunity. — Dan Rather

As long as I have my health, I want to be reporting somewhere. — Dan Rather

One finds oneself saying: 'I know the right question, but ... this is not exactly the right time to ask it.' — Dan Rather

And now the sequence of events in no particular order. — Dan Rather

Don't taunt the alligator until after you've crossed the creek. — Dan Rather

This much we know: Journalism is not a precise science. It's, on its best day, is a crude art. We make mistakes; I make mistakes. With more than 50 years as a journalist, I have at least had the opportunity to blow more stories, make more mistakes than maybe anybody in television. — Dan Rather

Well, first of all, I don't want to debate the word conservative, but by my definition, a conservative is someone who wants to conserve the Constitution of the United States and the American tradition and law that no one is above the law. — Dan Rather

Despite what many Americans think, most Soviets do not yearn for capitalism or Western-style democracy. — Dan Rather

By more than two to one Americans do not consider what Kevorkian did, injecting a terminally ill patient with legal drugs at the patient's request, to be the same as murder. You may want to note that laws are not supposed to be enforced on the basis of public opinion polls. — Dan Rather

These guys [the Catholic church] make Enron look like altar boys. — Dan Rather

Ratings don't last. Good journalism does. — Dan Rather

If frogs had side pockets, they'd carry hand guns. — Dan Rather

To the pilot of a deep sea submersible, upon finding out what would happen if the craft sprung a leak while submerged. I'll trust you to make sure that doesn't happen. — Dan Rather

College is like a woman: you work so hard to get in, and nine months later you wish you'd never come.
We used to say if a frog had side pockets, he'd carry a handgun. — Dan Rather

There was a time in South Africa that people would put flaming tires around peoples' necks if they dis-sented. And in some ways the fear is that you will be necklaced here, you will have a flaming tire of lack of patriotism put around your neck. Now it is that fear that keeps journalists from asking the toughest of the tough questions ... And again, I am humbled to say, I do not except myself from this criticism. — Dan Rather

Music is important. It says things you heart can't say any other way, and in a language everyone speaks. Music crosses borders, turns smiles into frowns, and vice versa. These observations are shared with a hope: that, when schools cut back on music classes, they really think about what they're doing - and don't take music for granted. — Dan Rather

The reelection of Bill Clinton is as secure as a double-knot tied in wet rawhide. — Dan Rather

I don't back down. I don't cave when the pressure gets too great from these partisan political ideological forces. — Dan Rather

Tonight, savagery in the streets of Iraq. Ten Americans die in a single day, four of them civilians murdered, mutilated and dragged through the streets ... What drives American civilians to risk death in Iraq? In this economy it may be, for some, the only job they can find. — Dan Rather

There is no doubt that the way journalism worked when I was growing up and getting started has changed forever. — Dan Rather

I don't pretend to be a digital savant or even a digital apprentice. — Dan Rather

This race is hotter than a Times Square Rolex. — Dan Rather

Comedians, such as yourself, Jon Stewart and others, are a valuable supplement, and here's why: Good journalism at its best frequently speaks truth to power. What's happened with journalists - again, I don't except myself from this criticism - in some ways we've lost our guts. We need a spine transplant. What's happened is comedians, in their own way, speak truth to power and fill that vacuum that we in journalism have too often left, particularly post 9/11. — Dan Rather

A tough lesson in life that one has to learn is that not everybody wishes you well. — Dan Rather

Journalism is not a precise science, it's a crude art — Dan Rather

My cousin just died. He was only 19. He got stung by a bee - the natural enemy of a tightrope walker. — Dan Rather

If you liked this broadcast, we hope you'll watch it again tomorrow night and maybe tell your neighbors about it. — Dan Rather

I'm proud to say I've never been anybody's lapdog. — Dan Rather

Covering the civil-rights movement was a mind- and eye-opener for me. Houston was a segregated society, as was Texas as a whole - some of it by law, a lot of it by fear and tradition. But there was no violence where I lived, and if there was hate, it was either concealed from me or I just didn't recognize it. — Dan Rather

They say California's the big burrito; Texas is a big taco right now. We want to follow that through. Florida is a big tamale. — Dan Rather

What I say or do here won't matter much, nor should it. — Dan Rather

I have tried to remain a working, cutting-edge journalist and I don't do it the way everybody else does it. And I think that's the difference. — Dan Rather

I've tried everything. I can say to you with confidence, I know a fair amount about LSD. I've never been a social user of any of these things, but my curiosity has carried me into a lot of interesting areas. — Dan Rather

Americans are once again looking outward — Dan Rather

Have you ever had any anger about President Bush - who spent his time during the Vietnam War in the National Guard - running, in effect, a campaign that does its best to diminish your service in Vietnam? You have to be at least irritated by that, or have you been? — Dan Rather

Fear rules almost every newsroom in the country. — Dan Rather

Journalism is less addictive than communism. — Dan Rather

I would rather wear out than rust out. — Dan Rather

In dealing with the press, do yourself a favor, stick with one of three responses: (a) I know and I can tell you; (b) I know and I can't tell you; (c) I don't know. — Dan Rather

Start-ups like UniversityNow, a network of low-cost, online colleges, allows students to work at their own pace and pay a few hundred dollars a month for a degree. — Dan Rather

I quote the late Ed Murow ... He said: 'Look, people listen to me when they want an eyewitness account. 'They think I'm a pretty good reporter. But when it comes to my opinions, mine are not worth anymore than the guy at the end of the bar.' And I believe that about myself. — Dan Rather

Those market researchers ... are playing games with you and me and with this entire country. Their so-called samples of opinion are no more accurate or reliable than my grandmother's big toe was when it came to predicting the weather. — Dan Rather

What separated Ed Murrow from the rest of the pack was courage. — Dan Rather

They may have turned this up, whether you had the Paula Jones case or not. But again maybe not, but again that's like if a frog had side pockets he'd probably wear a handgun. — Dan Rather

If all difficulties were known at the outset of a long journey, most of us would never start out at all. — Dan Rather

I'm part of nobody's world except Brezhnev's. — Dan Rather

Once the herd starts moving in one direction, it's very hard to turn it, even slightly. — Dan Rather

The Republican convention opens in New York to re-nominate George W. Bush and showcase the party's, quote, 'moderate side.' Will voters buy it? — Dan Rather

The dream begins, most of the time,with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you on to the next plateau sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called truth — Dan Rather

Those of you watching and listening, get a cup of coffee or a spot of tea and join us back here in just a few moments. — Dan Rather

I read the book [My Life by Bill Clinton] completely. And I think it compares very favorably with Ulysses S. Grant's gold standard of presidential autobiographies. — Dan Rather

Foreign news is considered an expletive. Thoughtfully written analysis is out, 'live pops' are in. 'Action Jackson' is the cry. Hire lookers, not writers. Do powder puff, not probing interviews. Stay away from controversial subjects. Kiss ass, move with the mass, and for heaven and rating's sake, don't make anybody mad- - certainly not anybody you're covering, and especially not the mayor, the governor, the senator, the president or the vice-president or anybody in a position of power. Make nice, not news. — Dan Rather

Always marry a woman from Texas. No matter how tough things get, she's seen tougher. — Dan Rather

I'm a believer in what your record is. I am what my record is - some of it good, some of it bad, some of it hard to tell. — Dan Rather

One of the most important roles of our journalists is to be watchdogs. — Dan Rather

But we cannot rely on memorials and museums alone. We can tell ourselves we will never forget and we likely won't. But we need to make sure that we teach history to those who never had the opportunity to remember in the first place. — Dan Rather

Anyone who says network news cannot be profitable doesn't know what he is talking about. But anyone who says it must "always," make money is misguided and irresponsible. — Dan Rather

The difference between love and sex is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. — Dan Rather

It's a legitimate point to debate. But it's part of the reality. It's happening, but it's also true they (looters) are in the distinct minority. I think there's a hero on every street corner in New Orleans, and I think the reporting has shown that. I think the balance has been there. — Dan Rather

Never eat spinach just before going on the air. — Dan Rather

Courage is being afraid but going on anyhow — Dan Rather

I've never believed in measuring one's worth by the size of his or her bank account. I prefer to look at distance traveled. — Dan Rather

It's the old shell game. — Dan Rather

[My job is] a very high trapeze act, frequently with no net. — Dan Rather

I think it's important for the public to know, great reporting starts with a publisher who has guts and an editor who has guts. — Dan Rather

Texas: 32 electoral votes, another of the so-called big enchiladas or if not an enchilada at least a huge taco. — Dan Rather

Only votes talk, everything else walks. — Dan Rather

Journalists should denounce government by public opinion polls. — Dan Rather

Frankly, I couldn't be more astonished that this guy was involved in something like this than if you came riding through my apartment on a hippopotamus. — Dan Rather

I respect and empathize with reporters and editors who must compete in today's environment. And I know full well that when I've been covering campaigns, which I still do, I've made my mistakes and have been far from perfect. — Dan Rather

I'm of the belief that you can have only one commander-in-chief at a time, only one president at a time. President Bush is our president. Whatever he decides vis-a-vis war or peace in Iraq is what we will do as a country. And I for one will swing in behind him as a citizen ... and support whatever his decision is. — Dan Rather

I've always tried to be fair, even-handed, not an advocate for any group. — Dan Rather

Are the Democrats going to dance the mandate Macarena? — Dan Rather