Won't You Be My Neighbor? Quotes

Fred Rogers: Love is at the root of everything - all learning, all parenting, all relationships. Love or the lack of it. And what we see and hear on the screen is part of who we become.

Fred Rogers: Well, I suppose it's an invitation, "Won't you be my neighbor?" It's an invitation for somebody to be close to you.

Fred Rogers: The greatest thing that we can do is to help somebody know that they're loved and capable of loving.

Margaret Whitmer: If you take all of the elements that make good television and do the exact opposite, you have "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood". Low production values, simple set, an unlikely star. Yet, it worked.

Fred Rogers: From the time you were very little, you've had people who have smiled you into smiling, people who have talked you into talking, sung you into singing, loved you into loving. So, on this extra special day, let's take some time to think of those extra special people. Some of them may be right here, some may be far away. Some may even be in heaven. No matter where they are, deep down you know they've always wanted what was best for you. They've always cared about you beyond measure and have encouraged you to be true to the best within you. Let's just take a minute of silence to think about those people now.

Himself - Fred Rogers Center Director: "What would Fred Rogers do"? It's not a question that you can answer. The most important question is, "What are you going to do?"

Fred Rogers: [to politicians] We need to help our children become more and more aware that what is essential in life is invisible to the eye.

François Scarborough Clemmons: I'm asked all the time, "Was he gay?" I think that if he had a gay vibe, I would have picked it up. Nope. Not that I'm aware of.

Fred Rogers: I think that those who would try to make you feel less than who you are, I think that's the greatest evil.

Hedda Sharapan: There was a wonderful quote from Fred: "The most important learning is the ability to accept and expect mistakes and deal with the disappointments that they bring."

Tom Junod: Across the street from Fred's funeral, there's this hubbub, and there's all these people holding up signs saying, "God hates fags." And I went and talked to them because Fred would have it no other way. I said, "Are you condemning Fred? Are you saying that he was gay? Wh-what's... what's happening?" And they were saying that, "No, no, he just... He-he tolerated gays." And so they were... they were intolerant of the tolerance. And the thing that... the thing that struck me that day, uh, more than anything else was the children that were there. Children that had been drafted into doing this work, into standing there with their parents and holding up signs and screaming. And those kids looked so unhappy. Those kids looked so exhausted. Those kids looked so ill-treated. It was just heart-breaking. And I... and I knew that if Fred had seen that, that that's where his heart would have gone.

Fred Rogers: [sternly] I am tired of hearing people who have long ago set aside the concerns of childhood, telling everybody what children really need. I'll tell you what children need. They need adults who will protect them from the ever-ready molders of their world.