I am grateful my country forced me to serve my country. Not for my country's sake, but for my own, in that diverse company, I learned to be responsible for others. I learned to be dependent on others. I learned there was more to life than me, me, me, me.

Jim Lehrer

Take risks ... be willing to put your mind and your spirit, your time and your energy, your stomach and your emotions on the line. To search for a safe place, to search for an end to a rainbow, is to search for a place that you will hate once you find it. The soul must be nourished along with the bank account and the resume. The best nourishment for any soul is to create your own risks.

rainbow hate soul

The shouting and opinion and jokes don't exist if there isn't fir... by Jim Lehrer

The shouting and opinion and jokes don't exist if there isn't first a story.

opinion stories firsts

I wanted to be a bus driver when I was a kid. I look at bus driving through the eyes of a little boy. I see it as glamorous.

I'm not saying Senator Mitchell's report is entirely wrong. I am saying Brian McNamee's statements about me are wrong. Let me be clear: I have never taken steroids or HGH.

brian steroid taken

I told the truth about steroids and human growth hormone. I injected those drugs into the body of Roger Clemens at his direction.

growth-hormones drug body

There's only one interview technique that matters... Do your homework so you can listen to the answers and react to them and ask follow-ups. Do your homework, prepare.

technique matter answers

Best I can do for them is to give them every piece of information I can find and let them make the judgments. That's just my basic view of my function as a journalist.

pieces views giving

Make no mistake: When I told Senator Mitchell that I injected Roger Clemens with performance-enhancing drugs, I told the truth.

roger drug mistake

I came from a family of Marines into the family of Marines. by Jim Lehrer

I came from a family of Marines into the family of Marines.

As I say, I'm a discourse advocate. What form it comes is less important to me than the fact that there is discourse.

advocating important facts

My own view, there is a need for and a demonstrated need for more journalism now than there ever has been.

literature views needs

Let me be clear: Despite Roger Clemens' statements to the contrary, I never injected Roger Clemens, or anyone else, with lidocaine or B-12.

roger clear let-me

People can say anything they want to. If they don't want to get the news from me, get it from somebody else. It's not something I'm going to worry about, I'm sorry.

sorry worry people

I started as a print reporter. I’m a journalist and that’s what I do. My function is an anchorperson, but it’s in a journalism context, and gravitas and coats and ties and haircuts and all that sort of stuff, I’ll leave to others. My thing is just to do my job the best way I know how and as I say I’m very fortunate to be able to do it the way I want to do it.

reporters print literature

People can get their news any way they want. What I love about what's happened is that there are so many different avenues, there are so many different outlets, so many different ways to debate and discuss and to inquire about any given news story.

news-stories different people

I have no reason to lie and every reason not to. If I do lie, I w... by Jim Lehrer

I have no reason to lie and every reason not to. If I do lie, I will be prosecuted.

no-reason reason lying

My writing is extremely important, so I write every day. I just e... by Jim Lehrer

My writing is extremely important, so I write every day. I just enjoy it. I get a kick out of it.

enjoy important writing

Most of the stories I have covered in 45 years have been gray sto... by Jim Lehrer

Most of the stories I have covered in 45 years have been gray stories.

gray stories years

A debate has one purpose, one purpose only, and that is to facilitate the exchange of ideas directly between two candidates, and that's it.

purpose two ideas

I was never promised any special treatment or consideration for fingering star players. I was never coerced to provide information against anyone. All that I was ever told to was to tell the truth to the best of my ability. And that is what I have done.

stars player special