Walter Cronkite Quotes

I think most newspapermen by definition have to be liberal; if they're not liberal, by definition of it, then they can hardly be good newspapermen. If they're preordained dogmatists for a cause, then they can't be very good journalists. ~ Walter Cronkite

It seems to me that instead of cutting taxes, we ought to be increasing the taxes to pay off the deficit, rather than let that thing build up to the point where our grandchildren's grandchildren are going to be paying for our period of time and our years at the helm. ~ Walter Cronkite

I want to say that probably 24 hours after I told CBS that I was stepping down at my 65th birthday, I was already regretting it. And I regretted it every day since. ~ Walter Cronkite

There is no such thing as a little freedom. Either you are all free, or you are not free. ~ Walter Cronkite

Walter Cronkite was a personally decent and convivial man, who literally couldn't kill a fly, was kind to his children, generally helpful to juniors, authentically curious about the news, and, in his time, an energetic reporter. ~ Conrad Black

Everybody knows that there's a liberal, that there's a heavy liberal persuasion among correspondents. ~ Walter Cronkite

We cannot defer this responsibility to posterity. Time will not wait. ~ Walter Cronkite

Justice was born outside the home and a long way from it; and it has never been adopted there ~ Walter Cronkite

Television [is] a high-impact medium. It does some things no other force can do-transmitting electronic pictures through the air. Still, as an explored, comprehensive medium, it is not a substitute for print. ~ Walter Cronkite

I'm a romanticist in many ways. I never get behind the wheel of my boat and dropping the anchor without saying to myself, secretly giving my orders to the crew "All right, lift the anchor, we're on our way to South Hampton. We're gonna beat them there with this load of tea!" ~ Walter Cronkite

As Walter Cronkite would say, that's the way it is. ~ Howard Fineman

I'm still ready to go to the moon, if they'll take me. ~ Walter Cronkite

It is not the reporter's job to be a patriot or to presume to determine where patriotism lies. His job is to relate the facts. ~ Walter Cronkite

There's a little more ego involved in these jobs than people might realize. ~ Walter Cronkite

When you're bringing in a fairly unknown candidate challenging a sitting president, the population needs a lot more information than reduced coverage provides. ~ Walter Cronkite

We must strengthen the United Nations as a first step toward a World Government, patterned after our Own Government with a legislature, executive and judiciary and police. ~ Walter Cronkite

To say that we are closer to victory today is to believe, in the face of the evidence, the optimists who have been wrong in the past, ~ Walter Cronkite

The first priority of humankind in this era is to establish an effective system of world law that will assure peace with justice among the peoples of the world. ~ Walter Cronkite

People who understand music hear sounds that no one else makes when Frank Sinatra sings. ~ Walter Cronkite

If that is what makes us liberals, so be it, just as long as in reporting the news we adhere to the first ideals of good journalism
that news reports must be fair, accurate and unbiased. ~ Walter Cronkite

For nearly five decades the World Federalists have worked to promote a strengthened UN and more effective institutions of global governance. I offer my personal endorsement. Now a great opportunity has opened for the realization of the dreams of the UN's founders. ~ Walter Cronkite

Walter [Cronkite] sang me a little sea chantey. The verse ended, 'Just watch your back with Dan [Rather], dear, just watch your back with Dan.'. ~ Connie Chung

For many years, I did my best to report on the issues of the day in as objective a manner as possible. When I had my own strong opinions, as I often did, I tried not to communicate them to my audience. ~ Walter Cronkite

It is clear that military force and our policy of preemption are alone insufficient to make us safe. But help is on the way. Legislation has been proposed to create a US Department of Peace. In the propsed Department of Peace it would organize our present system into one conscious effort to improve humanity in achieving peace, where true safety lies. ~ Walter Cronkite

Our task is not to tell the truth; we are opinion molders. ~ Walter Cronkite

The invasion of Iraq was illegal from the start. ~ Walter Cronkite

I think that being liberal, in the true sense, is being nondoctrinaire, nondogmatic, noncomitted to a cause but examining each case on its merits. Being left of center is another thing; it's a political position. I think most newspapermen by definition have to be liberal; if they're not liberal, by my definition of it, then they can hardly be good newspapermen. ~ Walter Cronkite

I am dumbfounded that there hasn't been a crackdown with the libel and slander laws on some of these would-be writers and reporters on the Internet. ~ Walter Cronkite

Everybody who's in the news business today was influenced in a positive way by Walter Cronkite. He had ability, humility and integrity, a rare combination. ~ Roger Ailes

I think he [composer Joe Raposo] was the first man who kissed me on the cheek. ~ Walter Cronkite

We are the lucky generation. We first broke our earthly bonds and ventured into space. From our descendants- perches on other planets or distant space cities, they will look back at our achievement with wonder at our courage and audacity and with appreciation at our accomplishments, which assured the future in which they live. ~ Walter Cronkite

The battle for the airwaves cannot be limited to only those who have the bank accounts to pay for the battle and win it. ~ Walter Cronkite

As anchorman of the CBS Evening News, I signed off my nightly broadcasts for nearly two decades with a simple statement: "And that's the way it is." To me, that encapsulates the newsman's highest ideal: to report the facts as he sees them, without regard for the consequences or controversy that may ensue. ~ Walter Cronkite

Reagan was an exceedingly likeable guy, just a heck of a nice fellow, despite his politics. He was funny and loved a good joke, the dirtier, I'm afraid the more ethnic, the better. I don't think he brought very much to the presidency, except charisma and success. ~ Walter Cronkite

Whatever the cost of our libraries, the price is cheap compared to that of an ignorant nation. ~ Walter Cronkite

In seeking truth you have to get both sides of a story. ~ Walter Cronkite

We are not educated well enough to perform the necessary act of intelligently selecting our leaders. ~ Walter Cronkite

If life were fattening, Walter Cronkite would weigh 500 pounds. ~ Douglas Brinkley

Our life together was filled with contrasts. One week we were croc hunting with Dateline in Cape York. Only a short time after that, Steve and I found ourselves out of our element entirely, at the CableACE Award banquet in Los Angeles.
Steve was up for an award as host of the documentary Ten Deadliest Snakes in the World. He lost out to the legendary Walter Cronkite. Any time you lose to Walter Cronkite, you can't complain too much. After the awards ceremony, we got roped into an after-party that was not our cup of tea.
Everyone wore tuxedos. Steve wore khaki. Everyone drank, smoked, and made small talk, none of which Steve did at all. We got separated, and I saw him across the room looking quite claustrophobic. I sidled over.
"Why don't we just go back up to our room?" I whispered into his ear. This proved to be a terrific idea. It fit in nicely with our plans for starting a family, and it was quite possibly the best seven minutes of my life!
After our stay in Los Angeles, Steve flew directly back to the zoo, while I went home by way of one my favorite places in the world, Fiji. We were very interested in working there with crested iguanas, a species under threat. I did some filming for the local TV station and checked out a population of the brilliantly patterned lizards on the Fijian island of Yadua Taba.
When I got back to Queensland, I discovered that I was, in fact, expecting. Steve and I were over the moon. I couldn't believe how thrilled he w ~ Terri Irwin

We know that no one should tell a woman she has to bear an unwanted child. We know that religious beliefs cannot define patriotism. ~ Walter Cronkite

For how many thousands of years now have we humans been what we insist on calling "civilized?" And yet, in total contradiction, we also persist in the savage belief that we must occasionally, at least, settle our arguments by killing one another. ~ Walter Cronkite

I felt that I had been driven from the temple where for nineteen years, along with other believers, I had worshiped the great god News on a daily basis. ~ Walter Cronkite

We've always known you can gain circulation or viewers by cheapening the product, and now you're finding the bad driving out the good. ~ Walter Cronkite

A system of world order-preferably a system of world government -is mandatory ... The proud nations someday will see the light and, for the common good and their own survival, yield up their precious sovereignty ... ~ Walter Cronkite

Television ... is not a substitute for print. ~ Walter Cronkite

And that's the way it is. ~ Walter Cronkite

In all my years as a news commentator I was never once, able to tell the truth, about anything. ~ Walter Cronkite

The ruling class is the rich ... And those people are so able to manipulate our democracy that they really control the democracy. ~ Walter Cronkite

When the Eagle landed on the moon, I was speechless - overwhelmed, like most of the world. Couldn't say a word. I think all I said was, 'Wow! Jeez!' Not exactly immortal. Well, I was nothing if not human. ~ Walter Cronkite

The great sadness of my life is that I never achieved the hour newscast, which would not have been twice as good as the half-hour newscast, but many times as good. ~ Walter Cronkite

I asked [my doctors] if I'd be able to play singles tennis and they said I could. That made me very happy since I haven't played in five years. ~ Walter Cronkite

It seems to rise again when the crisis times come, and this is a time of most severe crisis, as we all know, not just for the history of the United States and the survival indeed of our democracy, but for the future peace of the world. And never before probably has the need for interfaith commitment been nearly as great as it is at this very moment. ~ Walter Cronkite

Leaving San Francisco is like saying goodbye to an old sweetheart. You want to linger as long as possible. ~ Walter Cronkite

I think somebody ought to do a survey as to how many great, important men have quit to spend time with their families who spent any more time with their family. ~ Walter Cronkite

I can't imagine a person becoming a success who doesn't give this game of life everything he's got. ~ Walter Cronkite

Caltech honored me
they named an asteroid after me. There's only two of them up there with names. One of them is Walter Cronkite. The other is Tommy Lasorda. ~ Tommy Lasorda

I sort of think in a way that many of us young reporters who had the opportunity to go overseas for our organizations were kind of, in a sense, war profiteers. We were enhancing our careers while covering that terrible conflict. ~ Walter Cronkite

We are on the precipice of being so ignorant that our democracy is threatened. ~ Walter Cronkite

So now the question is, basically, right now, how will the Osama Bin Laden tape affect the election? And I have a feeling that it could tilt the election a bit. In fact, I'm a little inclined to think that Karl Rove, the political manager at the White House, who is a very clever man, that he probably set up bin Laden to this thing. ~ Walter Cronkite

Are they real fires? Or are people just reacting to something? Just because there's an alarm going doesn't mean it's a fire. And I think that people are confusing the two. It's only a fire when it offends the fans, and the fans turn on you. Tosh has fans, and they get the joke. If you've watched enough Tracy Morgan, you let the worst thing go by. When did Tracy Morgan become Walter Cronkite? You have to mean something to me to offend me. You can't break up with me if we don't date. ~ Chris Rock

To suggest we are on the edge of defeat is to yield to unreasonable pessimism. To say that we are mired in stalemate seems the only realistic, yet unsatisfactory, conclusion ... It is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could. ~ Walter Cronkite

Objective journalism and an opinion column are about as similar as the Bible and Playboy magazine. ~ Walter Cronkite

A handful of us determine what will be on the evening news broadcasts, or, for that matter, in the New York Times or Washington Post or Wall Street Journal. Indeed it is a handful of us with this awesome power.And those [news stories] available to us already have been culled and re-culled by persons far outside our control. ~ Walter Cronkite

Everything is being compressed into tiny tablets. You take a little pill of news every day - 23 minutes - and that's supposed to be enough. ~ Walter Cronkite

The rule of thumb for all news operations is that stories are assigned their importance on the basis of what affects or interests the greatest number of one's readers or viewers. Depending on the nature of the newspaper or broadcast, the balance between what "affects" and what "interests" is quite different. The first criteria of a responsible newspaper such as The New York Times is going to be that which their readers need to know about their world that day - those developments that in one way or another might affect their health, their pocketbooks, the future of themselves and their children. The first criterion of the tabloid is that which "interests" its readers - gossip, sex, scandal. ~ Walter Cronkite

This opens the door on another chapter of history. ~ Walter Cronkite

Success is more permanent when you achieve it without destroying your principles. ~ Walter Cronkite

I don't think people ought to believe only one news medium. They ought to read and they ought to go to opinion journals and all the rest of it. I think it's terribly important that this be taught in the public schools, because otherwise, we're gonna get to a situation because of economic pressures and other things where television's all you've got left. And that would be disastrous. We can't cover the news in a half-hour event evening. That's ridiculous. ~ Walter Cronkite

The 60s undoubtedly were the most turbulent years of the century. ~ Walter Cronkite

Dan Rather and I just aren't especially chummy. ~ Walter Cronkite

I grew my mustache when I was nineteen in order to look older. I never shaved it off even though it overran its usefulness many, many years ago. Once you get started in television, people associate you with your physical appearance - and that includes the mustache. So I can't shave it off now. If I did, I'd have to answer too much mail. ~ Walter Cronkite

News reporters are certainly liberal and left of center. ~ Walter Cronkite

I'd like to be a song and dance man. ~ Walter Cronkite

We've got a great percentage of our population that, to our great shame, either cannot or, equally unfortunate, will not read. And that portion of our public is growing. Those people are suckers for the demagogue. ~ Walter Cronkite

It is time we accept there's no Cronkite moment for Afghanistan. Perhaps it's time we value the hearts and minds of our own over distant Afghan tribes. ~ Tiffany Madison

Ethics must be reintroduced to public service to restore people's faith in government. Without such faith, democracy cannot flourish. Your ambitious agenda is filling a desperate need. ~ Walter Cronkite

Freedom of the press is not just important to democracy, it is democracy. ~ Walter Cronkite

I never had the ambition to be something. I had the ambition to do something. ~ Walter Cronkite

I think it is absolutely essential in a democracy to have competition in the media, a lot of competition, and we seem to be moving away from that. ~ Walter Cronkite

Probably the most important single element that I found in my own marriage was a sense of humor. My wife had a delicious sense of humor, and I think I have an adequate one. ~ Walter Cronkite

I've always loved watching the news on TV. As a kid, I loved watching Walter Cronkite, for some reason. ~ Will Ferrell

There is a compulsion that is perhaps the heart of life's meanings, this marvelous mystery of blood ties that brings joy whenever a new family member comes on the scene. ~ Walter Cronkite

watched in horror until Walter Cronkite finally announced the news that Kennedy was dead. The boys didn't try to argue about the stupidity of the ancient Hebrews again. ~ Katherine Paterson

Those advocates who work for world peace by urging a system of world government are called impractical dreamers. Those impractical dreamers are entitled to ask their critics what is so practical about war. ~ Walter Cronkite

Putting it as strongly as I can, the failure to give free airtime for our political campaigns endangers our democracy. ~ Walter Cronkite

I'm very proud of what Harry Truman turned out to be in office and the record he made. Certainly I think he'll go down in history as one of the greats, because of his conscience, his determination to stick with what he knew was right. ~ Walter Cronkite

If we are to avoid that catastrophe [a nuclear World War III], a system of world order - preferably a system of world government - is mandatory. The proud nations someday will see the light and, for the common good and their own survival, yield up their precious sovereignty, just as America's thirteen colonies did two centuries ago. When we finally come to our senses and establish a world executive and parliament of nations, thanks to the Nuremburg precedent we will already have in place the fundamentals for the third branch of government, the judiciary. ~ Walter Cronkite

With the fragmentation of television audiences and the advent of cable and on-demand services, the prestige of being an anchor is not what it was in the days of Walter Cronkite. ~ Jill Abramson

The death of a famous person is different from the death of a loved one, whether it is Michael Jackson, Frank McCourt, or Walter Cronkite. We didn't know any of them personally, and yet, we experience a sense of loss. ~ Madeleine M. Kunin

Pat Robertson has written in a book a few years ago that we should have a world government, but only when the Messiah arrives. He wrote, literally, any attempt to achieve world order before that time must be the work of the Devil. Well join me - I'm glad to sit here at the right hand of Satan. ~ Walter Cronkite

Tonight, however, Dickens struck him in a different light. Beneath the author's sentimental pity for the weak and helpless, he could discern a revolting pleasure in cruelty and suffering, while the grotesque figures of the people in Cruikshank's illustrations revealed too clearly the hideous distortions of their souls. What had seemed humorous now appeared diabolic, and in disgust at these two favourites he turned to Walter Pater for the repose and dignity of a classic spirit.

But presently he wondered if this spirit were not in itself of a marble quality, frigid and lifeless, contrary to the purpose of nature. 'I have often thought', he said to himself, 'that there is something evil in the austere worship of beauty for its own sake.' He had never thought so before, but he liked to think that this impulse of fancy was the result of mature consideration, and with this satisfaction he composed himself for sleep.

He woke two or three times in the night, an unusual occurrence, but he was glad of it, for each time he had been dreaming horribly of these blameless Victorian works…

It turned out to be the Boy's Gulliver's Travels that Granny had given him, and Dicky had at last to explain his rage with the devil who wrote it to show that men were worse than beasts and the human race a washout. A boy who never had good school reports had no right to be so morbidly sensitive as to penetrate to the underlying cynicism of Swift's delightful fable, and th ~ Margaret Irwin

I know well that only the rarest kind of best can be good enough for the young. ~ Walter De La Mare

If in argument we can make a man angry with us, we have drawn him from his vantage ground and overcome him. ~ Walter Savage Landor

Two evils, of almost equal weight, may befall the man of erudition; never to be listened to, and to be listened to always. ~ Walter Savage Landor

Nothing sounds better than being away from this mess. Nothing sounds better right now than getting higher than the hole I'm in. ~ Walter Dean Myers

There is no task of greater importance than to give our children the very best preparation for the demands of an ominous future, a preparation which aims at the methodical cultivation of their spiritual and their moral gifts. As long as the exemplary work of the Waldorf School Movement continues to spread its influence as it has done over the past decades, we can all look forward with hope. I am sure that Rudolf Steiner's work for children must be considered a central contribution to the twentieth century and I feel it deserves the support of all freedom-loving thinking people. ~ Bruno Walter

The private citizen today has come to feel rather like a deaf spectator in the back row, who ought to keep his mind on the mystery off there, but cannot quite manage to keep awake. He knows he is somehow affected by what is going on. Rules and regulations continually, taxes annually and wars occasionally remind him that he is being swept along by great drifts of circumstance. Yet these public affairs are in no convincing way his affairs. They are for the most part invisible. They are managed, if they are managed at all, at distant centers, from behind the scenes, by unnamed powers. ~ Walter Lippmann

Chess is a sad waste of brains. ~ Walter Scott

Discretion is the perfection of reason, and a guide to us in all the duties of life. ~ Walter Scott

In my opinion, a war between England and Germany was a war between brothers. In my inner self I admired the English government and political system. ~ Walter Schellenberg