Walter Lippmann Quotes

Tell truth, and shame the devil.

Both politicians and journalists face situations which strain their honesty and humanity. My opinion is that politicians on the average stand up somewhat better than journalists.

No writer for the press, however humble, is free from the burden of keeping his purpose high and his integrity white.

If I was President of the United States, I'd rather be right than interesting. If I was CEO of a company, I'd rather be right than interesting. But I'm a journalist - what journalist would rather be right than interesting?

There are certain stories that remind you of the moral purpose that originally drew you to become a reporter.

The duty of a journalist is the duty of a watchman.

Journalism can never be silent: that is its greatest virtue and its greatest fault.

Speak boldly and speak truly, shame the devil.

I never wonder to see men wicked, but I often wonder to see them not ashamed.

Would that the simple maxim, that honesty is the best policy, might be laid to heart; that a sense of the true aim of life might elevate the tone of politics and trade till public and private honor become identical.

Every night I go over what I did in the day, in ethical or moral terms. Have I treated people properly? Did I tell the truth?

I think a lot about something: Abe Rosenthal was once asked what he wanted on his headstone, and he said he wanted it just to say, 'He kept the paper straight.' And I think about that a lot.

I refuse to lie to children.

Above all, I would teach him to tell the truth Truth-telling, I have found, is the key to responsible citizenship. The thousands of criminals I have seen in 40 years of law enforcement have had one thing in common: Every single one was a liar.

I say that justice is truth in action.

There is no man more dangerous, in a position of power, than he who refuses to accept as a working truth the idea that all a man does should make for rightness and soundness, that even the fixing of a tariff rate must be moral.

Justice is truth in action.

For every good reason there is to lie, there is a better reason to tell the truth.

He who does not bellow the truth when he knows the truth makes himself the accomplice of liars and forgers.

There is no truth without responsibility following in its wake.

It is not who is right, but what is right, that is of importance.

Accuracy to a newspaper is what virtue is to a lady; but a newspaper can always print a retraction.

Truth is certainly a branch of morality and a very important one to society.

Tell the truth and shame the devil.

If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place.