Quotes By Dan Rather

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

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.

An intellectual snob is someone who can listen to the William Tell Overture and not think of The Lone Ranger.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

Never eat spinach just before going on the air.

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

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.

To err is human but to really foul up requires a computer.

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

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

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.

Fear rules almost every newsroom in the country.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

Courage is being afraid but going on anyhow.

Journalists should denounce government by public opinion polls.

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