We live in a world where terror has become a too familiar part of our vocabulary. The terror of 9/11, in which al-Qaeda’s attacks on America launched the nation into three wars – against Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Islamic State. – Tom Brokaw
Most patients enter a doctor’s office or hospital as if it were a Mayan temple, representing an ancient and mysterious culture with no language in common with the visitor. – Tom Brokaw
My hope is that we would begin to have a dialogue in this country about the importance of civility. We can have strong differences, but it does seem to me that most of the country believes it’s gone to critical mass in what I would call the professional class across the political spectrum – left and right. – Tom Brokaw
The doctor didn’t want me to play golf anymore and was worried about me fly-fishing. Golf is something I enjoy, but fly-fishing is a different thing: That’s religion. Hunting is religion for me. I didn’t want to give those up. – Tom Brokaw
We lost our way and allowed greed and excess to become the twin pillars of too much of the financial culture. We became a society utterly absorbed in consumption and dismissive of moderation. – Tom Brokaw
In one way or another, President Obama’s critics will dog him all the way to Oslo for the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, and even his admirers will continue to have doubts about his accomplishments if not his promise. – Tom Brokaw
In your pursuit of your passions, always be young. In your relationship with others, always be grown-up. Set a standard, and stay faithful to it. – Tom Brokaw
I’m in remission. I need to get my physical conditioning to a higher level. I was always very fit. I need to get back to where I am very confident in my ability to bike a long way. – Tom Brokaw
During World War II, law-abiding Japanese-American citizens were herded into remote internment camps, losing their jobs, businesses and social standing, while an all-Japanese-American division fought heroically in Europe. – Tom Brokaw
My mentor in the transition from the old Gabriel Heatter and John Cameron Swayze way of doing things was David Brinkley. He brought an entirely different style to what we were doing. – Tom Brokaw
I’m a working journalist. I’m interested in all points of view, and I draw conclusions based on facts, not just on opinions. – Tom Brokaw
Peter is an old friend. I’m heartbroken, but he’s also a tough guy. I’m counting on him getting through this very difficult passage. – Tom Brokaw
I was unknown because I came to Washington from the West. I started covering Watergate. Immodestly, I’d say I did it pretty well, in part because it was hard to go wrong. – Tom Brokaw
Your grandparents came of age in the Great Depression, when everyday life was about deprivation and sacrifice, when the economic conditions of the time were so grave and so unrelenting it would have been easy enough for the American dream to fade away. – Tom Brokaw
My mother and father, with my newborn brother and me in the backseat of the 1938 Ford sedan that would be our family car for the next decade, moved to that hastily constructed Army ammunition depot called Igloo, on the alkaline and sagebrush landscape of far southwestern South Dakota. I was three years old. – Tom Brokaw
1920 was an auspicious year for a young person to enter the world as an American citizen. – Tom Brokaw
I think they are paying a lot more attention to news now, by the way, in part because of national-security issues. A lot of young people have friends or family in the military today. – Tom Brokaw
What we have to do is put this in a coherent form for them at the end of the day, and on the big events, give them the kind of context that they deserve. – Tom Brokaw
Speaking generally, people who are drawn to journalism are interested in what happens from the ground up less than they are from the top down. – Tom Brokaw
The response to ‘The Greatest Generation’ and the books that followed has been one of the most satisfying experiences of my life. – Tom Brokaw
I played high school basketball at six feet, then I went to 5-11 in my 50’s, and then, bang, I went down to 5-9. – Tom Brokaw
I guess the issue that I have with all the news organizations that have a political MO, if you will, attached to them is that they sometimes jump to conclusions about what this will mean. Get ahead of themselves. – Tom Brokaw
Judy Miller is the most innocent person in this case. I really thought that was outrageous that she was jailed and we needed as journalists to draw a line in the sand in a strong but thoughtful way. – Tom Brokaw
I’m not a big fan of journalism schools, except those that are organized around a liberal arts education. Have an understanding of history, economics and political science – and then learn to write. – Tom Brokaw