Jane Pauley – 15 Quotes

15 Quotes by Jane Pauley

About the time I turned 50, I experienced the profound biological change that often accompanies women at that age. Also, I put two kids in college and lost both of my parents, so I’m no longer somebody’s daughter.

– Jane Pauley

I came back to work when my children were two months old. At that early age, they seem to have little awareness of anybody but their Raggedy Ann dolls, so it wasn’t a matter of them missing me. I was missing them.

– Jane Pauley

Your 40s are a major trough. About the age of 50, feelings of satisfaction begin to rebound and keep rising into your 50s, 60s and 70s, with health being a major factor.

– Jane Pauley

My father was so good-natured and had such a happy disposition. I’ve always confused him with Jimmy Stewart. So, think Jimmy Stewart. That’s my dad.

– Jane Pauley

I envy people with dreams and passions, but I don’t think that way. I still don’t have a ‘bliss’ to follow. For people like me – I suspect that’s most people – holding out for a ‘dream’ or a ‘passion’ is paralyzing. I just like having work I enjoy that feels meaningful. That’s hard enough… but it’s enough.

– Jane Pauley

My parents had an experience of life that is as opposite to mine as you can imagine.

– Jane Pauley

I would like to prove that on TV, everyday lives can be as compelling as the life-styles of the rich and famous. Especially lives that we catch at extraordinary moments.

– Jane Pauley

This may sound funny, but as much as the ‘Today’ show matured me, it also was something of a cocoon. I’d been happy there. I never went into the boss’s office and pounded my fist on the desk, saying, ‘Give me more money! Give me a prime-time show!’

– Jane Pauley

AARP knows the future is bright for a generation that’s going to remain healthy and vital for 10, 20, 30, 40 more years. AARP has the information and resources people need throughout their process of reinvention.

– Jane Pauley

I’ve come to recognize what I call my ‘inside interests.’ Telling stories. And helping people tell their stories is a sort of interpersonal gardening. My work at NBC News was to report the news, but in hindsight, I often tried to look for some insight to share that might spark a moment of recognition in a viewer.

– Jane Pauley

In the beginning when I sat next to Tom Brokaw on the ‘Today’ show, the stories I was interested in were those having to do with women and children and learning and health. In those days, 25 to 30 years ago, that was called soft news, and not in a nice way.

– Jane Pauley

I think my children know that Mother’s priority is to be with them first. But I don’t think it has to be an either/or situation. Work is very important to me, and it wouldn’t be in the best interest of my children for me to stay home seven days a week.

– Jane Pauley

Most of us in the baby-boom generation were raised by full-time mothers. Even as recently as 14 years ago, 6 out of 10 mothers with babies were staying at home. Today that is totally reversed. Does that mean we love our children less than our mothers loved us? No, but it certainly causes a lot of guilt trips.

– Jane Pauley

‘Good Morning America’ exploited Joan Lunden’s pregnancy, but you won’t see me bringing my babies on the air. The only reason I’m talking about the babies at all is that they’ve been with me on the show since I became pregnant. After a while, I had to acknowledge this pumpkin tummy.

– Jane Pauley

I think the success of a talk show depends on how true it is to the personality of the person hosting it. The shows I really admire, like ‘Oprah’ and ‘Ellen,’ are distinctively like their hosts, so I think my show will be successful only if we try to stay consistent to my own sense of myself.

– Jane Pauley