26 'Walter Cronkite' Quotes From The Most Trusted Man In America

Walter Cronkite was an American broadcast journalist, also known as the most trusted man in America.

He worked as an anchorman for the CBS Evening News for almost two decades. He reported many events from 1937 to 1981, including bombings in World War II, combat in the Vietnam War, and the Iran Hostage Crisis.

He was the only NASA recipient of an Ambassador of Exploration Award, renowned for his extensive coverage of the US space program. So, why not read these inspiring Walter Cronkite quotes to bring out the journalist in you?

For more great quotes, check out these [Jimmy Fallon quotes] and [Woody Paige quotes] too.
 

This segment has the most famous  Walter Cronkite quotes.

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

- Walter Cronkite.

2."In seeking truth you have to get both sides of a story."

- Walter Cronkite.

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

- Walter Cronkite.

4."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.

5."Success is more permanent when you achieve it without destroying your principles."

- Walter Cronkite.

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

- Walter Cronkite.

6."I never had the ambition to be something. I had the ambition to do something."

- Walter Cronkite.

7."The least of us is improved by the things done by the best of us because if we are not able to land at least we are able to follow."

- Walter Cronkite, 20 July 1969, CBS News moon landing coverage.

8."There's a little more ego involved in these jobs than people might realize."

- Walter Cronkite.

9."There is no such thing as a little freedom. Either you are all free, or you are not free."

- Walter Cronkite.

Among all Walter Cronkite quotes, "and that's the way it is", is arguably his most famous. This was his world-famous catchphrase, and he is best known for signing off his shows with this line. This section is full of bold claims and quotes which Walter Cronkite brought to the public fearlessly.

10."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.

11."The democratic system is challenged by the failure in television because our evening news programs have gone for an attempt to entertain as much as to inform in the desperate fight for ratings."

- Walter Cronkite.

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

- Walter Cronkite.

13."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.

14."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. 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."

- Walter Cronkite.

15."We are not educated well enough to perform the necessary act of intelligently selecting our leaders."

- Walter Cronkite.

16."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.

17."I am a registered independent because I find that I cast my votes not on the basis of party loyalty but on the issues of the moment and my assessment of the candidates."

- Walter Cronkite.

18."You take a little pill of news every day - 23 minutes - and that's supposed to be enough."

- Walter Cronkite.

19."Not only do we have a right to know, we have a duty to know what our Government is doing in our name."

- Walter Cronkite.

Walter Cronkite was able to be a great journalist, working for almost two decades on CBS news. Here are some Walter Cronkite quotes on world journalism.

20."Freedom of the press is not just important to democracy, it is democracy."

- Walter Cronkite.

21."The profession of journalism ought to be about telling people what they need to know - not what they want to know."

- Walter Cronkite.

22."For many years, I did my best to report on the issues of the day in as objective a manner as possible... Now, however, my circumstances are different. I am in a position to speak my mind. And that is what I propose to do."

- Walter Cronkite.

23."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.

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

- Walter Cronkite.

25."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, 'A Reporter's Life'.

26."I have never pretended to be a great writer. I am totally immodest about being a great reporter and a good news writer. I write fast and I write accurately, nearly as accurately as anybody can be, and that's my skill."

- Walter Cronkite.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Walter Cronkite quotes, then why not take a look at these Wangari Maathai quotes or Tim Ferriss quotes for more?