Quotes By Bob Woodward

I have found people don't want to be told. That they can figure it out.

I recently did the David Letterman Show about my book. He was very serious and made no jokes and it caught me off guard a little bit. He was much more serious than some of the joke shows that journalists get on.

Suppose Watergate had not been uncovered? I'd still be on the City Desk.

Because of Watergate in part, I am kind of a magnet for calls and information and suggestions.

I give lectures for money, but all the money goes to charity. So, I make no money from it.

There may yet be another Watergate book. I have thought a book about the aftermath of Watergate and its impact could be done, perhaps by me or someone else.

Nixon's grand mistake was his failure to understand that Americans are forgiving, and if he had admitted error early and apologized to the country, he would have escaped.

I don't think there will ever be a permanent truce, but I believe the media needs to be more careful and be willing to count to 10 before rushing on the air or into print.

Even now there is no evidence that anyone involved in the Nixon operation was going to threaten us.

When you hear in the tape recordings Nixon's own voice saying, We have to stonewall, We have to lie to the Grand Jury, We have to pay burglars a million dollars, it's all too clear the horror of what went on.

Watergate is an immensely complicated scandal with a cast of characters as varied as a Tolstoy novel.

I believe Watergate shows that the system did work. Particularly the Judiciary and the Congress, and ultimately an independent prosecutor working in the Executive Branch.

When you see how the President makes political or policy decisions, you see who he is. The essence of the Presidency is decision-making.

The central dilemma in journalism is that you don't know what you don't know.

I have gone on the air and announced my telephone number at the Washington Post. I go into the night, talking to people, looking for things. The great dreaded thing every reporter lives with is what you don't know. The source you didn't go to. The phone call you didn't return.

Using these unnamed sources, if done properly, carefully and fairly, provides more accountability in government.

I don't think voters give a hoot about the character of their political advisors, except to the extent that character reflects on the candidates.

I have written things that Republicans and Democrats and all kinds of figures have either hated or felt very uncomfortable about. Because in doing these long projects and books, you get close to the bone. And they're not calling me up and asking me for dinner.

I believe there's too little patience and context to many of the investigations I read or see on television.

Certain political figures think when you call them and ask them for a comment; that you are somehow doing something that you shouldn't be doing.

It would seem that the Watergate story from beginning to end could be used as a primer on the American political system.

We're not going to have another Watergate in our lifetime. I'm sure.

The number of illegal activities were so large that one was bound to come out and lead to the uncovering of the others. Nixon was too willing to use the power of government to settle scores and get even with enemies.

When you practice reporting for as long as I have, you keep yourself at a distance from True Believers. Either conservatives or liberals or Democrats or Republicans.

Clinton feels a profound alienation from the Washington culture here, and I happen to agree with him.

I don't think it's useful for somebody to argue with reviews.

Not a season passes without new disclosures showing Nixon's numerous attempts at criminal use of his presidential powers and in fact the scorn he held for the rule of law.

Deep Throat did serve the public interest by providing the guidance and information to us.

I suspect there have been a number of conspiracies that never were described or leaked out. But I suspect none of the magnitude and sweep of Watergate.

I think journalism gets measured by the quality of information it presents, not the drama or the pyrotechnics associated with us.