“Does anyone want to see a person who's making the money that the newspapers say I'm making complaining, 'Woe is me, my life is terrible, and people are being unfair?' No one would've had any patience for that. I wouldn't have any patience for that.”

“Even the bad interviews I think you learn from. They make you better.”

“I admire people who are completely at ease with themselves. But I don't have that feeling.”

“I am the luckiest guy I know.”

“I can't be as open on national television as I can when I'm having dinner with friends. But that doesn't mean the type of person I am is different. My values, my dislikes, my sense of humor are the same.”

“I get letters from women, and they say, 'I love your Roman nose.' If I weren't on TV and I walked past that same woman, she'd go, 'Did you see the beak on that guy?”

“I kid my friends who are golfers, and I say, 'If you ever hear me complain, hit me in the butt with a putter' because I have no reason to complain. Even on days when you don't like what you see in the paper, I have no reason to complain.”

“I probably would do over the Tom Cruise interview because I've thought of so many things I would have said in hindsight.”

“I worry about that every single day: Am I being a good father?”

“If you have a bad experience on the air, you don't think you've done your job, or you have an embarrassing moment. I guarantee you'll work harder the next time not to let it happen again.”

“In some ways, being No. 2 in the ratings is a real shot in the arm, a kick in the pants.”

“In this business, the minute you start feeling comfortable about the show you're doing or the ratings you're getting, you're in big trouble.”

“It usually takes two people a little while to learn where the funny buttons are and testy buttons are.”

“Katie Couric is kind of my soulmate.”

“Meredith Vieira warms my heart.”

“My dad was Jewish. My mom is not. So I was not raised anything.”

“Not a lot of conservatives on this list. Are more liberals than conservatives screwing up America?”

“People don't want to see me having a bad morning. They have job problems, financial problems, family pressures, kids to get off to school. The last thing they want to wake up to is someone showing them the same problems. So maybe that's the one time I am forced to act.”

“Researchers have discovered that chocolate produces some of the same reactions in the brain as marijuana. The researchers also discovered other similarities between the two but can't remember what they are.”

“The Iraqis have once again failed to meet a deadline for a final draft of the constitution.”

“Times are harder there right now. I think it's been well publicized. We are - the show is not where I want it to be right now. The ratings are not where I want them to be. I want to make it better.”

“What makes people successful in this business is to be yourself on camera. Sounds simple. It's not.”

“When people start to write articles about what might be wrong with the 'Today' show you know where you should point the finger, point it at me because I have been there the longest. And it's my responsibility.”

“When you feel your family is being threatened and hurt, you speak up. And then you put your head down and go back about your business.”

“When you have somebody in a position of power show interest in you after you've kind of been down and out, that's a big boost.”

“You get your dream job and, in my opinion, despite anything they might say about you professionally or personally, you shut up, and you just do the job - and enjoy it.”