Quotes from Mike Rowe

I always complain because I'm old now and everything hurts.

We don't need American Idols. We need American icons. Icons of work.

We need to tell better stories of men and women who master a trade. We have to stop telling kids to blindly follow their passion and show them the opportunities that exist. That was the big, overarching message of 'Dirty Jobs.'

In a very general way, our society has fallen out of love with the skilled trades. Part of the problem is a myriad of myths and misperceptions that surround the jobs themselves, but the biggest cause is our stubborn belief that a four-year degree is the best path for the most people.

People like to cherry-pick the parts of their career that they're either in the midst of or that they're the most proud of, but the truth is careers and lives are tapestries.

I'm fascinated by the skills gap.

The thing that makes 'Dirty Jobs' different is that it's one of the few shows that portrays work in a way that doesn't highlight the drudgery. Instead, it highlights the humor.

It's funny; it's a real balancing act. In TV, everybody's talking about authenticity. In order to make 'Dirty Jobs' authentic, I really can't be overly informed. The minute I am, I become a host... It's a very tricky business paying a tribute to work, because TV is very bad at it.

For me, what's the old expression, 'Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable,' that's really what religion is good at when it is done right. And the truth is, so is television.

Every bad joke, every endorsement deal, all of the things that a typical host would normally get creamed for, people don't mind, because they know I don't cheat when it comes to the work I actually try. I'm a lab rat. I'm a perpetual apprentice. The joke is on me if there is one.

The flaw in our character is our insistence on separating blue-collar jobs from white-collar jobs, and encouraging one form of education over another.

There's a belief... in the country that we can cure unemployment by creating opportunity. The skills gap proves that opportunity along is not enough to get people employed.

To me, we're living in a non-linear world... But the truth is we are linear creatures. Everything unfolds one after the next. And that's the thing we've become disconnected from.

'Bloody do-gooders' is my expression for people who are nicer than me, who are better than me.

Dirt used to be a badge of honor. Dirt used to look like work. But we've scrubbed the dirt off the face of work and consequently we've created this suspicion of anything that's too dirty.

The skills gap is a reflection of what we value. To close the gap, we need to change the way the country feels about work.

I can say the willingness to get dirty has always defined us as an nation, and it's a hallmark of hard work and a hallmark of fun, and dirt is not the enemy.

Opportunity usually shows up in overalls and looking like work.

The skills gap is a reflection of what we value.

Im a B-list celebrity trying to give it an honest look. They see me do actual work. ... I try to be the viewer with a microphone.

I'm not disinterested in the rest of the world, but studies show the rest of the world is really freaking far away.

There is a lot of stuff we can't control, but it is completely in our power to decide what the definition of what a good job is. That's up to us.

I wouldn't wish any specific thing for any specific person - it's none of my business. But the idea that a four-year degree is the only path to worthwhile knowledge is insane. It's insane.

People with dirty jobs are happier than you think. As a group, they're the happiest people I know.