7 Quotes About Leadership From Walter Cronkite

Here are insights from the iconic anchorman, who would have turned 100 today.

learn more about Nina Zipkin

By Nina Zipkin

CBS Photo Archive | Getty Images
American broadcast journalist Walter Cronkite broadcasts the news on the CBS Morning Show, New York, New York, March 4, 1954.

Legendary journalist Walter Cronkite anchored the CBS Evening News for 19 years starting in 1962. He was on the news desk for some of the most transformative moments of the last century -- the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the Apollo 11 moon landing, the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal.

Even after he retired, he remained a fixture in America's living rooms, sharing his passion for science, space and history through other series and documentary films.

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Throughout his storied career -- which was honored with a Peabody Award, Emmy Awards and the Presidential Medal of Freedom -- he was known as the most trusted man in America.

Cronkite, who died in 2009 at 92, is remembered as a media icon. Read on for the illustrious newsman's thoughts on ambition, hard work and leadership.

1. "I am in a position to speak my mind. And that is what I propose to do. Those of us who are living today can influence the future of civilization."

2. "I can't imagine a person becoming a success who doesn't give this game of life everything he's got."

3. "There is no such thing as a little freedom. Either you are all free, or you are not free."

4. "In seeking truth you have to get both sides of a story."

5. "The least of us is improved by the things done by the best of us, because if we are not able to land at least we are able to follow."

6. "Success is more permanent when you achieve it without destroying your principles."

7. "I never had the ambition to be something. I had the ambition to do something."

Nina Zipkin

Entrepreneur Staff

Staff Writer. Covers leadership, media, technology and culture.

Nina Zipkin is a staff writer at Entrepreneur.com. She frequently covers leadership, media, tech, startups, culture and workplace trends.

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