Quotes By Dan Rather

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

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

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

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".

Courage is being afraid but going on anyhow.

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

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.

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

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

And now the sequence of events in no particular order.

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

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.

I'd much rather wear out than rust out.

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.

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.

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

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

Are the Democrats going to dance the mandate Macarena?

Only votes talk, everything else walks.

This race is hotter than a Times Square Rolex.

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.

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.

Ratings don't last. Good journalism does.

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

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.

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

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.

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.