Quotes from Seymour Hersh

Tracking down people who did not want to be found was vital to what I did for a living, and I was good at it.

I don't necessarily buy the story that Bin Laden was responsible for 9/11.

The day after 9/11, we should have gone to Russia. We did the one thing that George Kennan warned us never to do - to expand NATO too far.

It doesn't matter that Bush scares the hell out of me. What matters is that he scares the hell out of a lot of very important people in Washington who can't speak out, in the military, in the intelligence community.

I joined the 'Times' in 1972, and I came with the mark of Cain on me because I was clearly against the war. But my editor, Abe Rosenthal, he hired me because he liked stories. He used to come to the Washington bureau and almost literally pat me on the head and say, 'How is my little Commie today? What do you have for me?'

I came out of a lower-middle-class background. At that time, everyone used to define themselves: Stalinist, Maoist, whatever. I thought they meant 'miaowist'. Seriously! Something to do with cats.

I have a theory in life that there is no learning. There is no learning curve. Everything is tabula rasa. Everybody has to discover things for themselves.

I'm a better American than 99% of the guys in the White House.

Writing about corporate America had sapped my energy, disappointed the editors, and unnerved me.

I think the moment anybody seriously tampers with the First Amendment, you're going to see an outcry.

Using words to make other people less big made me feel bigger, though the psychological dimension to that... well, I don't want to explore it.

I'm not convinced that every secret has to be published. I think there are secrets worth keeping, and I think there are secrets not worth keeping.

Most of the important secrets that I've known about, the real secrets that are known about aren't worth publishing.

I always believe in truth. Sometimes I know truth others don't. That puts me in a little bit of jeopardy sometimes.

Bush can talk about 100,000 people wanting to go work in the police or in the army. It's because there's nothing else for them to do. They're willing to stand in line to get bombed because they want to take care of their family.

I don't think I've ever met a public official that didn't think he was doing the right thing. I can't think of one.

If you think I write stories where it is all right to just be good enough, are you kidding? You think I have a cavalier attitude on throwing stuff out? Are you kidding? I am not cavalier about what I do for a living.

It doesn't matter that Bush scares the hell out of me. What matters is that he scares the hell out of a lot of very important people in Washington who can't speak out, in the military, in the intelligence community.

I wrote a lot about Cheney in 'The New Yorker,' but I wrote very little of what I know. The only time I ever mentioned what he ever said at a meeting was when there were many people there who were not insiders, you know, other people not in the government, so my sources would be protected.

I have this sort of heuristic view that journalism, we possibly offer hope because the world is clearly run by total nincompoops more than ever... Not that journalism is always wonderful - it's not - but at least we offer some way out, some integrity.

I don't think much of the journalism that I see.

I happen to write a lot of stories that make Kissinger look bad. I'd rather that the stories weren't true, but they all happen to be true.

Grab whom you must. Do what you want.

Yeah, I shoot my mouth off. There's a huge difference between writing and thinking.