| | After we got off welfare, my mother worked hard and raised her two kids. I moved her down to Miami, and she died in Miami. |
| | Communications is the number one major in America today. CNN had 25,000 applicants for five intern jobs this summer. |
| | Every one of my friends who are successful wanted it. If they didn't know what field they wanted, they knew they wanted to be somebody. |
| | Getting your house in order and reducing the confusion gives you more control over your life. Personal organization some how releases or frees you to operate more effectively. |
| | Gleason became like a mentor of mine. I had Gleason helping me on television, Godfrey on radio. |
| | Gleason didn't like the set, so we broke into the general manager's office and changed the set. |
| | Good writers are in the business of leaving signposts saying, Tour my world, see and feel it through my eyes; I am your guide. |
| | Hoffa came in, and the show really caught on. |
| | I came back to writing a newspaper column-it all came back. And I stayed in Miami, never went back to San Francisco. |
| | I could walk out of here today, run into someone from 30 years ago, and if he was in trouble, I'd help him. A bonding developed. |
| | I did all sorts of odd things. I was a PR director at a race track in Louisiana. I wrote some articles for Esquire magazine. |
| | I didn't have a father, so my friend Herbie's father would tell me not to be in broadcasting. I really wanted a father. |
| | I fantasized being a broadcaster. |
| | I had no particular skills. I knew I was bright, and I was funny. Maybe I'd have been a comic. |
| | I had that gift. I don't know what I would have been if I didn't have this gift. I couldn't tell you what I would have been. |
| | I have great friends in the field, I love people in the field, and there's nobody in broadcasting who doesn't like it. Nobody. |
| | I have lifelong friends. My oldest friend, Herbie, has been a friend since I was 9. I've had bonds for over 50 years with people. |
| | I have never understood the Iowa caucus. |
| | I hired people to handle money for me. I changed my whole lifestyle. |
| | I know what a father means because I didn't have a father. |
| | I like to put a stake in people, because I know people helped me. |
| | I remind myself every morning: Nothing I say this day will teach me anything. So if I'm going to learn, I must do it by listening. |
| | I was a big man in a small town. |
| | I was always telling everyone, I want to be a broadcaster. They'd say, What, are you crazy? What, you're going to be Arthur Godfrey? |
| | I was on relief after my father died. I was going to be 10. We were on relief for two years. |
| | I was smoking at the same time. You smoked on television then all the time. |
| | I worked on the United Parcel Service truck, I sold home delivery of milk. But always, in the back of my mind, I wanted to get into radio. |
| | I'm having as much fun today as I did when I made $55 a week, because it is as much fun. |
| | I'm sort of the comic relief after a hard day at work. My message is that it's OK to relax. |
| | I'm the worst person to be stuck with in a traffic jam. |
| | I've made a lot of mistakes. I've bonded with some people who use you, and some people that take advantage of you. |
| | If I do something caring for a friend, I have no doubt in my mind they would do it for me. |
| | If they asked me, I did two shifts. I did sports, I did news, because I loved it. |
| | If you do something, expect consequences. |
| | If you think, Well, I think I might want to be a broadcaster, then don't do it, because the competition is vicious. |
| | In the early '70s I lost all the jobs I had. |
| | It doesn't matter where you grew up. You've got want it. |
| | It's joyful to give. But for people who want to take advantage of you, you're kind of an easy mark. |
| | Les Miserables is one of my favorite stories. |
| | My ethic was such that I don't think I would have ever stolen. We were raised in a pretty high moral code. |
| | My first night on television was May of 1960. The radio show had really gotten popular. I was doing a morning show on another station. |
| | My mother would take in sewing on the side and try to hide it. You know, to make some extra dollars. |
| | New York City bought my first pair of glasses. It was wire frames, that's all you could get. |
| | No, certainly not. No international satellite hookups, no CNN. Although I will tell you this: |
| | People would pay money to work at CNN. |
| | That show really took off because Gleason came to Miami. He did that show and stayed all night with me. We stayed till five in the morning. |
| | The last time I was ever nervous was that first day. |
| | The names are bigger, the show is worldwide, but I get a royal pass into life in the broadcasting business. |
| | The only other time I was nervous was my first night on television. I was never nervous again. |
| | The relief men would come and inspect the refrigerator, see what kind of meat your mother was buying. You don't buy Grade A. |
| | They they had staff announcers. All they did was station breaks. |
| | Those who have succeeded at anything and don't mention luck are kidding themselves. |
| | We did not look around at 18 and say, Boy, don't we have a great childhood? In retrospect, we had a great childhood, friends for life. |
| | We had a high ratio of success orientation. |
| | We were all in the same neighborhood. Ernie Kovacs was in this neighborhood. |
| | We'd have parties, I'd be the emcee. I'd participate in school plays. I was in the Speaker's Bureau. |
| | What I would tell kids today is, persevere. This is a very tough business, and it's a business everybody wants to get into. |
| | When I broke in, in 1957, it was wide open. Now you're up against strong competition. |
| | When I was 22, I went to Miami and started knocking on doors. |
| | When I was 5 years old I would lie in bed, look at the radio, and I wanted to be on the radio. I don't know why. |
| | With 500 channels and the Internet available, you'd think a candidate could get the word out. |