Quotes from Tom Brokaw

What I quickly learned after my diagnosis is that the world of a cancer patient has many parts and a good deal of uncertainty.

In the spring of 1984, I went to the northwest of France, to Normandy, to prepare an NBC documentary on the 40th anniversary of D-Day.

There is certainly greatness in the '60s generation. They changed our attitudes about race in America, which was long overdue. They didn't just stand up and salute when told to go to war. Women finally began to realize a more equal place in our society.

In 1962, I had an entry-level reporter's job at an Omaha television station. I had bargained to get a salary of $100 dollars a week because I didn't feel I could tell Meredith's doctor father I was making less.

In your pursuit of your passions, always be young. In your relationship with others, always be grown-up. Set a standard, and stay faithful to it.

Your grandparents came of age in the Great Depression, when everyday life was about deprivation and sacrifice, when the economic conditions of the time were so grave and so unrelenting it would have been easy enough for the American dream to fade away.

It's all storytelling, you know. That's what journalism is all about.

In war, there are no unwounded soldiers.

If fishing is a religion, fly fishing is high church.

In television, everything is possible and nothing is sure.

It's easy to make a buck. It's a lot tougher to make a difference.

We are, in fact, a nation of immigrants. It's just a question of whether we're going to celebrate that and invest in it, or whether we're going to ignore it and deny it.

I am not a partisan newsman. I am a reporter who covers politics and government, and I am nonpartisan.

The most important thing in life is to be able to breathe.

America is a nation of big shoulders and big dreams.

I think the greatest legacy of the civil rights movement is that it made America a better place for all of us, regardless of race or ethnicity.

The greatest generation was formed first by the Great Depression. They shared everything -- meals, jobs, clothing.

It's hard to lead a cavalry charge if you think you look funny on a horse.

The purpose of a liberal education is to make you philosophical enough to accept the fact that you will never make much money.

It's important to remember that every good story has a beginning, a middle, and an end, and it's up to us to figure out how to get from one to the other.

I would say to any young student today: Learn the language of the world. Get to know the language of the world because that's the way you're going to be able to communicate and have an impact.

You can never overestimate the intelligence of the American public.

The most memorable interviews for me are always the ones where I feel like I'm learning something new.

It's not what you think that counts, it's what you do.