Walter Cronkite quotes

Walter Cronkite, an iconic American broadcast journalist, is celebrated as "the most trusted man in America." With an illustrious career spanning over five decades, Cronkite's impact on journalism is unmatched. From his renowned anchoring of the CBS Evening News to his pivotal coverage of historical events like the Moon landing and Watergate scandal, he became a household name. Cronkite's delivery of unbiased news and unwavering integrity captured the hearts of millions. His influence on shaping public opinion remains unparalleled. Discover more about Walter Cronkite's remarkable legacy and contributions to journalism at our website, and explore his lasting impact on the industry and the nation.

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

- Walter Cronkite

You think you would react one way when a situation develops and, and when the sharp shells are flying, you don't quite stand up like you think you might.

- Walter Cronkite

With police wielding unprecedented powers to invade privacy, tap phones and conduct searches seemingly at random, our civil liberties are in a very precarious condition.

- 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 have more and more one-newspaper towns, and that troubles me.

- Walter Cronkite

Our job is only to hold up the mirror – to tell and show the public what has happened.

- Walter Cronkite

Maybe I'm just a slow learner or something, but I like to have things laid out as plainly and simply as possible.

- Walter Cronkite

It's a little hard not to be an elitist when you're making millions of dollars a year.

- Walter Cronkite

I wanted to have more time to play and reflect, but I find retirement more stressful than having a nice, steady job because I have to make decisions about where I want to be.

- Walter Cronkite

I think people make way too much of ratings.

- Walter Cronkite

I think cameras ought to be everywhere the reporters are allowed to go. I think, furthermore, reporters and cameras ought to be everywhere that the Constitution says the public can go.

- Walter Cronkite

I never ceased to be surprised when southern whites, at their homes or clubs, told racial jokes and spoke so derogatorily of blacks while longtime servants, for whom they quite clearly had some affection, were well within earshot.

- Walter Cronkite

I have never voted a party line. I vote on the individual and the issues.

- Walter Cronkite

I had as much time to prepare for that moon landing as NASA did, and I still was speechless when it happened. It just was so awe-inspiring to actually be able to see the thing through the television that was a miracle in itself.

- Walter Cronkite

I don't believe in these headline-hunting interviews. That's just not my style.

- Walter Cronkite

I do not consider a liberal necessarily to be a leftist.

- 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

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

Beyond being timely, an obituary has a more subjective duty: to assess its subject's impact.

- Walter Cronkite

Anchormen shouldn't cry.

- Walter Cronkite

America's health care system is neither healthy, caring, nor a system.

- Walter Cronkite

A lot of the questions raised about television's power and influence on events have applied throughout history to every mass-communications medium – most particularly print, because that's the medium we've had the longest.

- Walter Cronkite

A liberal to me is one who – and it suits some of the dictionary definitions – is unbeholden to any specific belief or party or group or person, but makes up his or her mind on the basis of the facts and the presentation of those facts at the time. That defines what I am.

- Walter Cronkite

I learned early on that in the real world, the masks of tragedy and comedy adorn the proscenium of every life.

- Walter Cronkite

It's always hard, after you've been in command, to take a lesser role.

- Walter Cronkite

The perils of duck hunting are great – especially for the duck.

- Walter Cronkite

Advertising's always been a considerable pressure on publishers.

- Walter Cronkite

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

- 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 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