Quotes from Dan Rather

There are some fine journalists who have worked and continue to work at Fox News. But the majority of programming is opinion rather than news, and this opinion is often in service of conservative political objectives regardless of the facts.

I remember Mexican children, the sons and daughters of migrant farmworkers, starting each fall at my elementary school. By the time we got to Thanksgiving, the harvest and livestock roundups were complete, and all of those schoolmates would be gone.

books were not only important, they were also objects of beauty.

I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere.

I must study Politicks and War that my sons may have liberty to study Mathematicks and Philosophy . . . in order to give their Children a right to study Painting, Poetry, [and] Musick.

It should be clear to our political leaders that a new energy strategy could be the next technological revolution America could lead. But we are ceding the momentum to others such as China. Our planet and our national prosperity are already suffering from the decline in our leadership.

We either choose to be part of a community that stretches beyond ourselves, our material needs, and our creature comforts, or we do not. In our society, it is possible for the selfish and self-centered to live at the expense of the rest of the population.

The same generation that had been driven to such depths in the 1930s rose up to push back the forces of totalitarianism in a two-ocean global war in the 1940s.

And that is how it was during World War II: There was a sense of service that permeated all of society, even down to young boys like me. I remember the rationing of food and materials. The idea that we all had to go without, that we were all asked to sacrifice in even small ways, created a sense of togetherness. It was everyone's war, and everyone was encouraged to participate.

The true foundations for those buildings are not brick and stone, but our Constitution, our rule of law, our traditions, our work ethic, our empathy, our pragmatism, and our basic decency. As I have seen over the years, when we cultivate these instincts, we soar. When we sow seeds of division, hatred, and small-mindedness, we falter. As a wave of anxiety sweeps our nation, as big challenges loom before us, I feel an urgency.

How can people be so blinded by prejudice as to not see the common humanity?

But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? . . . We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.

In art, you can find voices that channel your own life story better than you could ever express it yourself. And you can also find voices that introduce you to worlds you would never have otherwise visited.

We know that homosexuality is not limited to any race, religion, or socioeconomic class—it is part of human diversity.

It is important not to confuse "patriotism" with "nationalism.

We live largely separated from one another, and most people seem to be okay with that. It is not good enough to vote for politicians who will do the right thing on racial issues, or even to give money to worthy causes. If we are not actively trying to tear down the "fences to separate the races," as Justice Marshall described it, then we are all part of the problem.

Simply put, we have more people talking about news and less original reporting.

We do not need a heavy hand, just wise policies and an understanding that some things are so big or risky that only the government can be the catalyst for action.

How do we expect people to participate in something they don't understand?

Do not let the truth get in the way of a good story.

So much of our public policy seems to follow a mantra of "Go with your gut." It doesn't matter what the details are, as long as you are winning, and a perverse calculus has gripped Washington wherein reckless sloganeering and obstruction has replaced governing by consultation, debate, and consensus.

And I saw how thoroughly these families embraced their American identity—they were patriots, just like the people with whom I had grown up. But they also understood that they were from another continent. This is one of the greatest lessons of our nation's improbable makeup: A united citizenry can be quilted together from so many different cultural fabrics.

We should feel proud that we are

George Washington, in his famous Farewell Address, warned future generations "to guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.