Quotes from Dan Rather

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

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.

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

College is like a woman: you work so hard to get in, and nine months later you wish you'd never come. We used to say if a frog had side pockets, he'd carry a handgun.

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.

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.

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

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

Fear rules almost every newsroom in the country.

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

Journalists should denounce government by public opinion polls.

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

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.

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

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.

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."

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

Americans will put up with anything provided it doesn't block traffic.

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