Rodgers: "When I first saw children's television, I thought it was perfectly horrible. And I thought there was some way of using this fabulous medium to be of nurture to those who would watch and listen."

Rodgers: "I like to compare the holiday season with the way a child listens to a favorite story. The pleasure is in the familiar way the story begins, the anticipation of familiar turns it takes, the familiar moments of suspense, and the familiar climax and ending."

Rodgers: "The underlying message of the Neighborhood is that if somebody cares about you, it's possible that you'll care about others. 'You are special, and so is your neighbor' - that part is essential: that you're not the only special person in the world. The person you happen to be with at the moment is loved, too."

Rodgers: "The number 143 means 'I love you.' It takes one letter to say 'I' and four letters to say 'love' and three letters to say 'you.' One hundred and forty-three. 'I love you.' Isn't that wonderful?"

Rodgers: "Just because somebody wants to be alone sometimes, it doesn't mean they don't love you."

Rodgers: "When I was very young, most of my childhood heroes wore capes, flew through the air, or picked up buildings with one arm. They were spectacular and got a lot of attention. But as I grew, my heroes changed, so that now I can honestly say that anyone who does anything to help a child is a hero to me."

Rodgers: "How sad it is that we give up on people who are just like us."

Rodgers: "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."

Rodgers: "I think of discipline as the continual everyday process of helping a child learn self-discipline."

Rodgers: "Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood."

Rodgers: "The world is not always a kind place. That's something all children learn for themselves, whether we want them to or not, but it's something they really need our help to understand."

Rodgers: "Love isn't a perfect state of caring. It's an active noun, like 'struggle.'"

Rodgers: "I believe that those of us who are the producers and purveyors of television, I believe that we are the servants of this nation."

Rodgers: "I don't think that the basics that kids need have changed in 10,000 years."

Rodgers: "Deep and simple are far, far more important than shallow and complicated and fancy."

Rodgers: "I saw this new thing called television, and I saw people throwing pies in each other's faces, and I thought, 'This could be a wonderful tool for education! Why is it being used this way?' So I said to my parents, 'You know, I don't think I'll go into seminary right away. I think I'll go into television.'"

Rodgers: "In my own life, as the nearer I get to the end of life on this earth, the simpler I want to become."

Rodgers: "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.'"