Dan Rather Quotes

This race is hotter than a Times Square Rolex.

Never eat spinach just before going on the air.

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

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

Courage is being afraid but going on anyhow.

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

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

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

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

The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called 'truth'.

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.

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

The dream begins, most of the time, with a teacher who believes in you.

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.

Be careful. Journalism is more addictive than crack cocaine. Your life can get out of balance.

I think you can be an honest person and lie about any number of things.

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

I had someone at the Houston police station shoot me with heroin so I could do a story about it. The experience was a special kind of hell. I came out understanding full well how one could be addicted to 'smack,' and quickly.

Now, I know you expected me to say that, well, I just kick back in the rocking chair, fished a little bit, listened to Willie Nelson tapes and watched old baseball games on the Classic Sports network. And, tell you the truth, I have done that for maybe about five total minutes.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

Writing is the rock on which everything is built.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Only votes talk, everything else walks.

(Obama's) a nice person, he's very articulate this is what's been used against him, but he couldn't sell watermelons if it, you gave him the state troopers to flag down the traffic.

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.

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

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.

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

Performing doesn't turn me on. It's an egomaniac business, filled with prima donnas - including this one.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

There are more Muslims in North America then Jews Now.

Are the Democrats going to dance the mandate Macarena?

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.