Quotes from Katharine Graham

Although at the time I didn't realize what was happening, I was unable to make a decision that might displease those around me. For years, whatever directive I may have issued ended with the phrase, 'If it's all right with you.' If I thought I'd done anything to make someone unhappy, I'd agonize.

There are some things the general public does not need to know and shouldn't. I believe democracy flourishes when the government can take legitimate steps to keep its secrets, and when the press can decide whether to print what it knows.

If we had failed to pursue the facts as far as they led, we would have denied the public any knowledge of an unprecedented scheme of political surveillance and sabotage.

A mistake is simply another way of doing things

I always thought if you worked hard enough and tried hard enough, things would work out. I was wrong.

To me, working is a form of sustenance, like food or water, and nearly as essential.

The longer I live, the more I observe that carrying around anger is the most debilitating to the person who bears it.

For more than eight decades, Washington has been my hometown. My whole orientation is toward this place.

In large families, it seems it is hardest to be either the first or the last child. That was certainly true in ours.

One doesn't soon forget the natural beauty of Washington, although those of us who live here do sometimes take it for granted.

So few grown women like their lives

Family ownership provides the independence that is sometimes required to withstand governmental pressure and preserve freedom of the press.