"I happen to write a lot of stories that make Kissinger look bad. I'd rather that the stories weren't..." — Seymour Hersh

I sometimes think that we underestimate Trump, but that's just my opinion. I always like to tack the other way, I guess.

Using words to make other people less big made me feel bigger, though the psychological dimension to that... well, I don't want to explore it.

I came out of a lower-middle-class background. At that time, everyone used to define themselves: Stalinist, Maoist, whatever. I thought they meant 'miaowist'. Seriously! Something to do with cats.

I joined the 'Times' in 1972, and I came with the mark of Cain on me because I was clearly against the war. But my editor, Abe Rosenthal, he hired me because he liked stories. He used to come to the Washington bureau and almost literally pat me on the head and say, 'How is my little Commie today? What do you have for me?'