People like to pigeonhole and say, Well, I'm a Washington insider, and you know, that's quite silly. What does that even mean?
Bob Woodward

Some newspapers have a hands-off policy on favored politicians. But it's generally very small newspapers or local TV stations.
Bob Woodward

Suppose Watergate had not been uncovered? I'd still be on the City Desk.
Bob Woodward

The biggest rap on me is that I don't find a Watergate every couple of years. Well, Watergate was unique. It's not something Carl Bernstein, I, or the Washington Post caused.
Bob Woodward

The central dilemma in journalism is that you don't know what you don't know.
Bob Woodward

The cloud of doubt that surrounds political figures tends to remain and never dissipate or be clarified.
Bob Woodward

The fact of the Watergate cover-up is not nearly as interesting as the step into making the cover-up. And when you understand the step, you understand that Richard Nixon lied. That he was a criminal.
Bob Woodward

The failure of the system to deal quickly was attributable to Nixon's lying, stonewalling and refusal to come clean. So it took 26 months for the final truth to be known.
Bob Woodward

The legislator learns that when you talk a lot, you get in trouble. You have to listen a lot to make deals.
Bob Woodward

The number of illegal activities were so large that one was bound to come out and lead to the uncovering of the others. Nixon was too willing to use the power of government to settle scores and get even with enemies.
Bob Woodward

The source known as Deep Throat provided a kind of road map through the scandal. His one consistent message was that the Watergate burglary was just the tip of the iceberg.
Bob Woodward

The Washington Times wrote a story questioning the authenticity of some of the suggestions made about me in Silent Coup. But as a believer in the First Amendment, I believe they have more than a right to air their views.
Bob Woodward

There are people who take rumors and embellish them in a way that can be devastating. And this pollution has to be eradicated by people in our business as best we can.
Bob Woodward

There is a garbage culture out there, where we pour garbage on people. Then the pollsters run around and take a poll and say, do you smell anything?
Bob Woodward

There may yet be another Watergate book. I have thought a book about the aftermath of Watergate and its impact could be done, perhaps by me or someone else.
Bob Woodward

There's hostility to lying, and there should be.
Bob Woodward

Using these unnamed sources, if done properly, carefully and fairly, provides more accountability in government.
Bob Woodward

Watergate is an immensely complicated scandal with a cast of characters as varied as a Tolstoy novel.
Bob Woodward

Watergate provides a model case study of the interaction and powers of each of the branches of government. It also is a morality play with a sad and dramatic ending.
Bob Woodward

Way before Watergate, senior administration officials hid behind anonymity.
Bob Woodward