“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?”

I believe Watergate shows that the system did work. Particularly the Judiciary and the Congress, and ultimately an independent prosecutor working in the Executive Branch.

If information is true, if it can be verified, and if it’s really important, the newspaper needs to be willing to take the risk associated with using unidentified sources.

…Obama said, ‘I welcome debate among my team, but I won’t tolerate division’.

When you practice reporting for as long as I have, you keep yourself at a distance from True Believers. Either conservatives or liberals or Democrats or Republicans.

Nixon’s grand mistake was his failure to understand that Americans are forgiving, and if he had admitted error early and apologized to the country, he would have escaped.

I never really read comics. I bought them, and I would draw them.

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.

Lawyers didn’t seriously get involved in the Watergate stories until quite late, when we realized we were on to something.

I don’t think voters give a hoot about the character of their political advisors, except to the extent that character reflects on the candidates.

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.

I gave my word that this source would not be identified unless he changed his mind. He has not…

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.

I recently did the David Letterman Show about my book. He was very serious and made no jokes and it caught me off guard a little bit. He was much more serious than some of the joke shows that journalists get on.

I’m not going to name some of my colleagues who are very well-known for their television presentation, but they wouldn’t know new information or how to report a story if it came up and bit them.

Reporters may believe they control the story, but the story always controls the reporters.

Deep Throat was a very unfortunate name given to the source by the managing editor of The Washington Post.

Some people talk the talk and walk the walk while I’m silently running.

The world awakens on the run And will soon be earning With hopes of better days to come It’s a morning yearning.

A picture story just doesn’t run like a film. It doesn’t have 24 frames per second. It doesn’t deal with this illusion of movement. It’s more like if you did an illuminated novel.

Taking on short term risk can involve switching jobs, joining new groups / associations in the area, launching a personal blog, running an experiment within your existing job. These are some practical ways to inject volatility into your life, and thus some risk.

The moth settled onto the curtain and sat still. It was an astonishing creature, with black and white wings patterned in geometric shapes, scarlet underwings, and a fat white body with black spots running down it like a snowman’s coal buttons.

You can’t replace people you love with other people…But you can trust that you’re not going to run out of people to love.

I’m not trying to be cocky, but I set such a high standard for myself. I’m not happy when I pitch seven innings and give up two runs and get a win.

You can do more of independent films. A Hollywood picture, you’ll do one a year, one of those big blockbusters, right? Then you’ve gotta go to the gym to get in shape to do all of the running and shooting and diving and falling and hitting and all that stuff they do today.