Ben Bradlee Quotes

Quotes about:

• As long as a journalist tells the truth, in conscience and fairness, it is not his job to worry about consequences. The truth is never as dangerous as a lie in the long run. I truly believe the truth sets men free.

  Ben Bradlee

  Running, Jobs, Lying

  "Stamina, bravery, brilliance - the great Ben Bradlee had it all" by Alan Rusbridger, www.theguardian.com. October 22, 2014.

  37 Copy quote

• It changes your life, the pursuit of truth.

  Ben Bradlee

  Changing Your Life, Pursuit

  "'Post' Editor Bradlee Helped Define Modern American Journalism". "All Things Considered" with Robert Siegel, wuwm.com. October 22, 2014.

  52 Copy quote

• It is my experience that most claims of national security are part of a campaign to avoid telling the truth.

  Ben Bradlee

  Campaigns, Telling The Truth, Claims

  "Deep Throat Revealed: Ben Bradlee". Live Q&A, www.washingtonpost.com. June 2, 2005.

  19 Copy quote

• As a child, one looks for compliments. As an adult, one looks for evidence of effectiveness.

  Ben Bradlee

  Children, Effectiveness, Adults

  Ben Bradlee (2011). “A Good Life”, p.68, Simon and Schuster

  21 Copy quote

• Nothing's riding on this, except the First Amendment to the Constitution, freedom of the press and maybe the future of the country. Not that any of that matters, but if you guys f-k up again, I'm gonna get mad.

  Ben Bradlee

  Country, Mad, Guy

  "Fictional character: Ben Bradlee". "All the President's Men", 1976.

  17 Copy quote

• To hell with news! I'm no longer interested in news. I'm interested in causes. We don't print the truth. We don't pretend to print the truth. We print what people tell us. It's up to the public to decide what's true.

  Ben Bradlee

  People, News, Causes

  19 Copy quote

• There is nothing like daily journalism! Best damn job in the world!

  Ben Bradlee

  Jobs, World, Journalism

  21 Copy quote

• You never monkey with the truth.

  Ben Bradlee

  Monkeys

  "Watergate: 25 Years Later". Online discussion, www.washingtonpost.com. June 17, 1997.

  16 Copy quote

• Hire people smarter than you are and encourage them to bloom.

  Ben Bradlee

  People, Smarter

  "Ben Bradlee, legendary Washington Post editor, dies at 93" by Robert G. Kaiser, www.washingtonpost.com. October 21, 2014.

  14 Copy quote

• It changes your life, the pursuit of truth, if you know that you have tried to find the truth and gone past the first apparent truth towards the real truth. It's very, it's very exciting.

  Ben Bradlee

  Real, Past, Gone

  6 Copy quote

• Our best today; better tomorrow.

  Ben Bradlee

  Today, Tomorrow, Better Tomorrow

  Ben Bradlee (2017). “A Good Life: Newspapering and Other Adventures”, p.482, Simon and Schuster

  11 Copy quote

• If an investigative reporter finds out that someone has been robbing the store, that may be 'gotcha' journalism, but it's also good journalism.

  Ben Bradlee

  May, Journalism, Robbing

  "Watergate: 25 Years Later". Online discussion, www.washingtonpost.com. June 17, 1997.

  12 Copy quote

• Everybody who talks to a newspaper has a motive. That's just a given. And good reporters always, repeat always, probe to find out what that motive is.

  Ben Bradlee

  Newspapers, Given, Motive

  "Deep Throat Revealed: Ben Bradlee". Live Q&A, www.washingtonpost.com. June 2, 2005.

  14 Copy quote

• I do worry about how newspapers respond to falling circulation figures. I'm not sure that the answer is for newspapers to try to cater to whatever seems to be the fad of the day.

  Ben Bradlee

  Fall, Worry, Trying

  "Deep Throat Revealed: Ben Bradlee". Live Q&A, www.washingtonpost.com. June 2, 2005.

  6 Copy quote

• The Nixon administration really put a lot of pressure on CBS not to run the second broadcast.

  Ben Bradlee

  Running, Pressure, Administration

  "Watergate: 25 Years Later". Online discussion, www.washingtonpost.com. June 17, 1997.

  13 Copy quote

• It's very hard to stand up to the government which is saying that publication will threaten national security. People don't seem to realize that reporters and editors know something about national security and care deeply about it.

  Ben Bradlee

  Government, Editors, People

  "Deep Throat Revealed: Ben Bradlee". Live Q&A, www.washingtonpost.com. June 2, 2005.

  8 Copy quote

• The history of American politics is littered with bodies of people who took so pure a position that they had no clout at all.

  Ben Bradlee

  People, Body, Politics

  20 Copy quote

• Sure, some journalists use anonymous sources just because they’re lazy, and I think editors ought to insist on more precise identification even if they remain anonymous.

  Ben Bradlee

  Thinking, Editors, Lazy

  "Watergate: 25 Years Later". Online discussion, www.washingtonpost.com. June 17, 1997.

  18 Copy quote

• Sometimes I am convinced there is nothing wrong with this country that couldn't be cured by the magical implantation of ethical standards on us all - leaders and followers. Until that becomes doable, the Center for Public Integrity is just about the best thing we have going for us.

  Ben Bradlee

  Country, Integrity, Ethical Standards

  7 Copy quote

• The first rough draft of history.

  Ben Bradlee

  Rough Drafts, Firsts, Journalism

  24 Copy quote

• In the perfect world every source could be identified, but like the man said, "It's not a perfect world."

  Ben Bradlee

  Men, Perfect, World

  "Watergate: 25 Years Later". Online discussion, www.washingtonpost.com. June 17, 1997.

  8 Copy quote

• There will always be leaks; in Washington, everywhere.

  Ben Bradlee

  Leaks

  4 Copy quote

• Those [Watergate] tapes are going to take me to my grave with a huge smile on my face.

  Ben Bradlee

  Tape, Faces, Graves

  5 Copy quote

• National security is a really big problem for journalists, because no journalist worth his salt wants to endanger the national security, but the law talks about anyone who endangers the security of the United States is going to go to jail. So, here you are, especially in the Pentagon. Some guy tells you something. He says that's a national security matter. Well, you're supposed to tremble and get scared and it never, almost never means the security of the national government. More likely to mean the security or the personal happiness of the guy who is telling you something.

  Ben Bradlee

  Mean, Jail, Government

  7 Copy quote

• Maybe some of today's papers have too many 'feel-good' features, but there is a lot of good news out there.

  Ben Bradlee

  Feel Good, News, Paper

  "Watergate: 25 Years Later". Online discussion, www.washingtonpost.com. June 17, 1997.

  4 Copy quote

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