The first essence of journalism is to know what you want to know, the second, is to find out who will tell you.

There are no generalizations in American politics that vested selfishness cannot cut through.

The last copy of the Chicago Daily News I picked up had three crime stories on its front page. But by comparison to the gaudy days, this is small-time stuff. Chicago is as full of crooks as a saw with teeth, but the era when they ruled the city is gone forever.

All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast.

Ours is the only country deliberately founded on a good idea.

One travels like a golf ball, hopping from green to green.

The first essence of journalism is to know what you want to know, the second, is to find out who will tell you.

It’s the equivalent of putting on the brakes suddenly while driving uphill.

If a man’s from Texas, he’ll tell you. If he’s not, why embarrass him by asking?

What interested me was not news, but appraisal. What I sought was to grasp the flavor of a man, his texture, his impact, what he stood for, what he believed in, what made him what he was and what color he gave to the fabric of his time.