Top quotes by Morley Safer

When I did that interview with Hepburn, the only ground rule was, you did not discuss Spencer Tracy. Spencer Tracy's widow is still alive, and she respected that. Votes: 20

The BBC is a perfect example of uncontrolled growth, [occupying] old churches and manor houses, the old Langham Hotel where Sherlock Holmes once met Moriarty and where this correspondent once shared an office with an 8-foot bathtub. Votes: 17

You can never have enough garlic. With enough garlic, you can eat The New York Times. Votes: 16

Reality TV is sleazy, it is manipulative. It is as momentary as anything in popular culture. Votes: 16

The helicopter is a fine way to travel, but it induces a view of the world that only God and CEOs share on a regular basis. Votes: 15

[The] BBC was known as Auntie suggesting someone prudish and Victorian and that she still is on some days. On others she's a champagne-soaked floozie, her skirts in disarray, her mind in the gutter, and the mixture can be quite wonderful. Votes: 13

Clinton's pardoning of Marc Rich was off-the-wall. Votes: 13

We are on Sunday night because that is where they put us 30-odd years ago. I think we became a habit. Votes: 13

Don may yawn at the idea, which he often does, but the great thing about Don, he has confidence in me and Mike and Ed and Leslie and Steve, that we're not going go out and do stories that will put people to sleep. Votes: 12

Who knows who will be on board? A couple of spies, for sure. At least one grand duke; a few beautiful woman, no doubt very rich and very troubled. Anything can happen and usually does on the Orient Express. Votes: 11

What has reality shows got to do with reality? It is beyond unreality; there is nothing real about it. Votes: 10

Whenever it's suggested that our sponsors have some kind of influence or control of what we cover in some kind of censorship through financial pressure, it's rubbish. That's never happened. Votes: 8

Killing is the payoff of war. Votes: 8

A lot of sponsors over the years have left us. They've all come back. But they chose to leave us for a while because of stories we have done about them or their products or their friend's products or whatever. Votes: 7

Kids' views are often just as valid as the teachers'. The best teachers are the ones that know that. Votes: 7

What does it say about us that people who are considered defective are instinctively caring and compassionate? Votes: 7

Pilgrims who are looking for a cure are soon looking for a curio. Votes: 7

I think it has sullied his presidency. As brilliant a politician as Bill Clinton is, as magnetic a personality as he can be, there is one little screw loose somewhere. Votes: 6

I am not in this business as a calling. I don't do what I do to right any wrongs. Votes: 6

After four or five different wars, I grew weary of that work, partly because in an open war, open to coverage, as Vietnam was, it's not that difficult, really. Votes: 6

In his lifetime the great French impressionist painter Corot painted 2000 canvases. Of that number, 3000 are in the United States. Votes: 6

The workplace has become a psychological battlefield and the millennials have the upper hand, because they are tech savvy, with every gadget imaginable almost becoming an extension of their bodies. They multitask, talk, walk, listen and type, and text. And their priorities are simple: they come first. Votes: 6

I did three tours in Vietnam. I guess a total of about almost two years. Votes: 5

The Bush Cabinet is quite interesting, there are no flashy people in there. No stars. They all seem quite focused and serious and knowledgeable about the areas to which they have been appointed. Votes: 5

Some people, you have to grit your teeth in order to stay in the same room as them, but you get on and ask the questions you assume most of the people watching want to ask. Votes: 5

It is always disarming to treat with the enemy, so to speak. Votes: 4

I would trust citizen journalism as much as I would trust citizen surgery. Votes: 3

This [the movie Babe] is the way Americans want to think of pigs. Real-life 'Babes' see no sun in their limited lives, with no hay to lie on, no mud to roll in. The sows live in tiny cages, so narrow they can't even turn around. They live over metal grates, and their waste is pushed through slats beneath them and flushed into huge pits. Votes: 2

BBC Radio is a never-never land of broadcasting, a safe haven from commercial considerations, a honey pot for every scholar and every hare-brained nut to stick a finger into. Votes: 2

You can be a great president and be ridden with flaws. Of course we know that. Votes: 1

In many ways when Jerry Ford pardoned Nixon, in a certain way, he did speak for the country. Votes: 0

Arrogance and snobbism live in adjoining rooms and use a common currency. Votes: 0

BBC Radio is not so much an art or industry as it is a way of life . . . a mirror that reflects . . . the eccentricities, the looniness that make Britons slightly different from other humans. Votes: 0

I really don't care what movie stars have to say about life. Votes: 0

Parents like the idea of kids, they just don't like their kids. Votes: 0

The Republicans learned well from Bill Clinton. Votes: 0