Fred Rogers

Fred Rogers in 1982

Fred Rogers (1994)

Fred McFeely Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003), also known as Mister Rogers, was an American television host, author, producer, and Presbyterian minister. He was the creator, showrunner, and host of the preschool television series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, which ran from 1968 to 2001.

Quotes

• Very frankly, I am opposed to people being programmed by others. My whole approach in broadcasting has always been 'You are an important person just the way you are. You can make healthy decisions.' Maybe I'm going on too long, but I just feel that anything that allows a person to be more active in the control of his or her life, in a healthy way, is important.
  • U.S. District Court testimony September 1979.

• When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping."
  • [1]

• This is what I give. I give an expression of care every day to each child, to help him realize that he is unique. I end the program by saying, 'You've made this day a special day, by just your being you. There's no person in the whole world like you; and I like you just the way you are.' And I feel that if we in public television can only make it clear that feelings are mentionable and manageable, we will have done a great service for mental health.
  • Testimony before U.S. Senate committee, May 1, 1969. Featured in Fred Rogers: America's Favorite Neighbor (television documentary), 2003.

• You know, I think everybody longs to be loved, and longs to know that he or she is lovable. And, consequently, the greatest thing that we can do is to help somebody know that they're loved and capable of loving.
  • Fred Rogers: America's Favorite Neighbor (television documentary), 2003.

• Yes, when I was here the first word of the alma mater was 'Men…Men of Dartmouth, give a rouse…' Well, now the first word is 'Dear.' Some things change for the better.
  • Commencement Address at Dartmouth College June 9th, 2002

• Our world hangs like a magnificent jewel in the vastness of space. Every one of us is a part of that jewel. A facet of that jewel. And in the perspective of infinity, our differences are infinitesimal.
  • Commencement Address at Dartmouth College June 9th, 2002

• Well, what is essential about you? And who are those who have helped you become the person that you are? Anyone who has ever graduated from a college, anyone who has ever been able to sustain a good work, has had at least one person and often many who have believed in him or her. We just don't get to be competent human beings without a lot of different investments from others.
  • Commencement Address at Dartmouth College June 9th, 2002 and Commencement Address at Middlebury College May, 2001

• When I say it's you I like, I'm talking about that part of you that knows that life is far more than anything you can ever see or hear or touch. That deep part of you that allows you to stand for those things without which humankind cannot survive. Love that conquers hate, peace that rises triumphant over war, and justice that proves more powerful than greed.
  • Source Commencement Address at Dartmouth College June 9th, 2002

• I believe that appreciation is a holy thing, that when we look for what's best in the person we happen to be with at the moment, we're doing what God does; so in appreciating our neighbor, we're participating in something truly sacred.
  • Commencement Address at Middlebury College May, 2001

• Vermont is a small state which makes an enormous difference.
  • Commencement Address at Middlebury College May, 2001

• It's not the honors and the prizes and the fancy outsides of life which ultimately nourish our souls. It's the knowing that we can be trusted, that we never have to fear the truth, that the bedrock of our very being is good stuff.
  • Commencement Address at Middlebury College May, 2001

• It's our insides that make us who we are, that allow us to dream and wonder and feel for others. That's what's essential. That's what will always make the biggest difference in our world.
  • Commencement Address at Middlebury College May, 2001

• Little by little we human beings are confronted with situations that give us more and more clues that we aren't perfect.
  • Mister Rogers' Neighborhood: Thoughts For All Ages

• If only you could sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person.
  • Mister Rogers' Neighborhood: Thoughts For All Ages

• As human beings, our job in life is to help people realize how rare and valuable each one of us really is, that each of us has something that no one else has—or ever will have—something inside that is unique to all time. It's our job to encourage each other to discover that uniqueness and to provide ways of developing its expression.
  • Mister Rogers' Neighborhood: Thoughts For All Ages

• Fame is a four letter word and like tape, or zoom, or face, or pain, or life, or love, what ultimately matters is what we do with it.
  • When introduced to the TV Hall of Fame [2]

• Both Joanne and I can recall many times when we wish we'd said or done something different.  But we didn't, and we've learned not to feel too guilty about that.  What gives me my good feelings is that we always cared and always tried to do our best.
  • Foreword of Many Ways to Say I Love You

• Children are to be respected and I respect them deeply. They've taught me an awful lot.
  • Interviewed by Joan Rivers on The Tonight Show (1983)[3]