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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

Writing is the rock on which everything is built.

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

(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.

Only votes talk, everything else walks.

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

Texas: 32 electoral votes, another of the so-called big enchiladas or if not an enchilada at least a huge taco.

I'd much rather wear out than rust out.

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 read the book [My Life by Bill Clinton] completely. And I think it compares very favorably with Ulysses S. Grant's gold standard of presidential autobiographies.

I can say with confidence I know a fair bit about LSD.

There are more Muslims in North America then Jews Now.

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

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.

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.

Are the Democrats going to dance the mandate Macarena?

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

Journalists should denounce government by public opinion polls.

And now the sequence of events in no particular order.

Turn the lights down, the party just got wilder.

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

I'm a believer in what your record is. I am what my record is - some of it good, some of it bad, some of it hard to tell.

I know that this story is true.

We are the "can do" country. We adjust to situations better than any people in the history of the world... We adjust to change.

It's the ratings, stupid, don't you know? They've got us putting more fuzz and wuzz on the air, cop-show stuff.