Graydon Carter

“Hatred for Obama... has more to do with race than anything else.”

“Most of us have learned the hard way that there are very few things you can absolutely count on in life.”

“Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi looks in the mirror and sees a playboy of the old school. And men such as Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Charlie Sheen no doubt look at Berlusconi and think, 'Role model!' Women, of course, know otherwise. They see him as an aging, pathetic buffoon.”

“I walk down the street and people don't go, 'My God, there he is.' I lead as normal a life as you can lead in New York City.”

“There aren't any looks or customs I wish would come back. Today almost anything goes. Culture constantly devours the past so there's not much that's missing.”

“War is a form of really bad manners, in a strange way. Invading a country I think is just the worst possible manners. 'You're not invited!' Gate crashing on a large scale!”

“To a young kid growing up in Canada, America seemed to be crazy about the future; dazzled by it.”

“It could fairly be said that the U.S. is increasingly out of step with the rest of the world. As our neighbors to the south elect left-wing or even socialist governments, we are lurching further to the right. As Europe becomes less engaged to the Church, we are becoming more fundamentalist.”

“Financial institutions like to call what they do trading. Let's be honest. It's not trading; it's betting.”

“People think they have to be ambitious. But at a certain age, all you want is to be around nice, decent people.”

“Magazines at some point become hostage to their own success.”

“Fashion is a dangerous road to go down. Anybody who is going to have children later in life had best not be too fashionable because the photos will come back to haunt them.”

“Arrogance, ignorance, and incompetence. Not a pretty cocktail of personality traits in the best of situations. No sirree. Not a pretty cocktail in an office-mate and not a pretty cocktail in a head of state. In fact, in a leader, it's a lethal cocktail.”

“As you get older and fatter, good clothes can hide a lot.”

“In Britain, libel damages are small and people build them into the cost of doing business. In America, libel is very rare and much harder to prove, but the damages are enormous.”

“As any editor will tell you, startling newsroom revelations are generally met with queries about where the information came from and how the reporter got it. Seriously startling revelations are followed by the vetting of libel lawyers.”

“A workday lunch that lasts as long as a transcontinental flight is an impossibility for all but the most pliant and footloose of food tourists. To get in the game, you need a thick wallet, an adventurous palate, and a whole lot of time.”

“The last thing businessmen want to do is sit in a room filled with other businessmen. A room full of money is a pretty boring sight - unless it's yours, of course.”

“In America, the top 1 percent led the country into war and economic devastation, leaving the less fortunate to fight for one and pay for both.”

“'The Guardian,' with its deep journalistic traditions, is careful about context and explanation. It sees itself as a gatekeeper, and it worries about consequences.”