American politics used to be an amateur sport. But somewhere along the way, we handed over to professionals all the things people used to do for free.
Bob Schieffer

And after about two years, I realized that creative writing was not going to help you ace those biological tests. So I switched over to journalism. I didn't graduate with honors, but I did graduate on time and with some doing.
Bob Schieffer

And as a result, I guess I'm just kind of a rubberneck. I'm kind of a - someone who likes to see things and likes to see these events and talk to the people who make them happen. But I don't think journalists are as important as the people they cover.
Bob Schieffer

And I came away from that experience, and it was a very difficult experience - I came to understand that you have to practice at being a good father and practice at being a good husband, just as you have to practice at being a good journalist.
Bob Schieffer

At the White House, everybody works for the same person. They're all part of the same company. But on Capitol Hill, they're all independent contractors. They all work for themselves. That's a formula for getting news.
Bob Schieffer

But here's the deal: If I were smart, I could figure out curling. If I were even smarter, I could figure out why people would actually watch other people doing it. I have tried. I can't. I can't even figure out the object of the game. Is it like darts? I just don't get it.
Bob Schieffer

But if you don't enjoy doing something, you'll be miserable no matter how much money you make.
Bob Schieffer

But if you're going to go out on a military unit, you've got to allow yourself to be under the control of the commander because you really could put the troops in danger.
Bob Schieffer

But the reporter has the responsibility to determine, number one, whether that is true, and number two, to make a judgment as to whether it's in the public interest and whether or not it should be part of the debate.
Bob Schieffer

But with 9/11, we found that people tended to come back to the networks and the people who had been our core viewers in the past came back and they have stayed with us.
Bob Schieffer


For sure, the American people have access to more information now than any other people who have ever lived on earth. And I think we do a pretty good job of sorting out what's important.
Bob Schieffer

Had there been a reporter along with Lieutenant Calley when he massacred those people in Vietnam, I think that probably wouldn't have happened.
Bob Schieffer

I always thought writing was the foundation and the basis for journalism in the same way being able to draw is the foundation for art.
Bob Schieffer

I can't think of any other job in journalism where the newsmakers come to you.
Bob Schieffer

I had - all my life, everybody who knew me thought that I would probably grow up to be a reporter, a newspaper reporter because we didn't have much television in those days.
Bob Schieffer

I had an idea in the beginning to do a book about some of the events that I had covered, just various stories that I've covered. Reporters spend a lot of time telling each other tales about how they covered stories, and that's what this book started out to be.
Bob Schieffer

I think journalism is a great way to do public service, to have an impact on your community.
Bob Schieffer

I used to be a print reporter.
Bob Schieffer

I want to try to talk like normal people talk, not just stand there and bark at the camera.
Bob Schieffer

I've basically thought of myself as a writer, whether I was or not.
Bob Schieffer