Top 40 Phil Donahue Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.”

— Phil Donahue

2. “Will you remember me when I’m gone?”

— Phil Donahue

3. “There is no democracy without dissent.”

— Phil Donahue

4. “This is Sesame Street. A place where people, birds, monsters all live in perfect harmony.”

— Phil Donahue

5. “The biggest threat to this country isn’t the Russians. It’s our own inability to make democracy or capitalism work.”

— Phil Donahue

6. “The Commission on Presidential Debates is a corrupt stranglehold on our democracy.”

— Phil Donahue

7. “In reality, the most important things happen when you don’t look for them.”

— Phil Donahue

8. “I realize what you can do when you scare the population and how media contributes to that.”

— Phil Donahue

9. “I think the idea of creating a television news source that is not beholden to corporate interests is nirvana.”

— Phil Donahue

10. “Women are smarter than men because they listen.”

— Phil Donahue

11. “Its like threading a needle while walking on a water bed.”

— Phil Donahue

12. “Some people are uncomfortable with the idea that humans belong to the same class of animals as cats and cows and raccoons. They’re like the people who become successful and then don’t want to be reminded of the old neighborhood.”

— Phil Donahue

13. “The establishment people tell us that if the workers wanted to share the profits, it was called communism. When management wants to share profits, it’s called a bonus.”

— Phil Donahue

14. “I certainly think we have an emergency in media, and we gotta fix it.”

— Phil Donahue

15. “Recognition should come to the reporter who uncovers public cheating or proves a convicted man innocent.”

— Phil Donahue

16. “To a journalist, good news is often not news at all.”

— Phil Donahue

17. “I have been in the witness protection program for the last three weeks. I campaigned for Ralph Nader. I’m now living as a woman in Mississippi.”

— Phil Donahue

18. “Spanking and verbal criticism have become, to many parents, more important tools of child rearing than approval.”

— Phil Donahue

19. “A large psychic void is left by a loss of faith. So many Catholics have tried so many things to replace it.”

— Phil Donahue

20. “What really keeps me going is the constant belief that it could all disappear tomorrow.”

— Phil Donahue

21. “Miss Child is never bashful with butter.”

— Phil Donahue

22. “I was proud of the waves I had made, but wondered how many boats I was supposed to rock.”

— Phil Donahue

23. “When I was a kid, people who got divorced were people who had no gumption.”

— Phil Donahue

24. “We should not use crippled children to sell hamburgers. Ever.”

— Phil Donahue

25. “I’m not a pacifist. I’m not that brave.”

— Phil Donahue

26. “I tip like crazy. Theyll remember me. Celebrity can be expensive.”

— Phil Donahue

27. “I find celebrity status difficult to bear when I am in the company of my mother.”

— Phil Donahue

28. “I could never understand how we could put 120,000 Japanese behind a fence in World War II. I remember being bewildered about that.”

— Phil Donahue

29. “Everybody is under pressure to shut up and sing.”

— Phil Donahue

30. “At first, I thoroughly enjoyed being famous.”

— Phil Donahue

31. “In 1953 there were two ways for an Irish Catholic boy to impress his parents: become a priest or attend Notre Dame.”

— Phil Donahue

32. “I have moved from certainty to doubt, from devotion to rebellion.”

— Phil Donahue

33. “I have had time to analyze my feelings. I am certain that they are totally neurotic, sexist, silly, and a big waste of time.”

— Phil Donahue

34. “In a network situation, a vice president, while he’s shaving, can decide your history.”

— Phil Donahue

35. “Is it any wonder that for millions of men the only intimacy is physical, silent, and predictable?”

— Phil Donahue

36. “Presenting statues of honor to reporters for covering an earthquake is like presenting a first prize to a doctor for performing surgery.”

— Phil Donahue

37. “Airlines are interesting. They not only favor celebrities, they court them.”

— Phil Donahue

38. “Cindy Sheehan is one tough mother and nothing you say or anyone else is gonna slow her down.”

— Phil Donahue

39. “Praising the Lord and passing the ammunition are mutually exclusive ideas.”

— Phil Donahue

40. “The Tube is a vehicle for selling things, not for exploring ideas.”

— Phil Donahue

41. “Oprah is more than an institution. Oprah is a very special star in the firmament. I can’t imagine a greater success than she’s enjoyed.”

— Phil Donahue

42. “If Stalin ever told me to urinate, I’m not sure I’d be able to...”

— Phil Donahue

43. “Television is not the exclusive target of promoters. Is Superman really worthy of a Newsweek cover?”

— Phil Donahue

44. “The system of volunteerism is divisive. It pits one charity against the others for the charity dollar.”

— Phil Donahue

45. “I believe celebrity spoils people – some worse than others.”

— Phil Donahue

46. “December 25th has become guilt and obligation.”

— Phil Donahue

47. “The House looks like more fun. It’s like the Donahue show. The Senate is like one of those Sunday morning public service programs.”

— Phil Donahue

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