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'.
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.
A tough lesson in life that one has to learn is that not everybody wishes you well.
If all difficulties were known at the outset of a long journey, most of us would never start out at all.
Don't taunt the alligator until after you've crossed the creek.
Courage is being afraid but going on anyhow.
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'd much rather wear out than rust out.
A free and truly independent press - fiercely independent when necessary - is the red beating heart of freedom and democracy.
Once the herd starts moving in one direction, it's very hard to turn it, even slightly.
This race is hotter than a Times Square Rolex.
An intellectual snob is someone who can listen to the William Tell Overture and not think of The Lone Ranger.
Americans will put up with anything provided it doesn't block traffic.
The great lesson my mother and father gave me was almost invisible. It was a strong sense of being rooted.
Ratings don't last. Good journalism does.
Always marry a woman from Texas. No matter how tough things get, she's seen tougher.
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.
Fear rules almost every newsroom in the country.
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.
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.
