Quote of the Day: Dan Rather on Daily Inspiration

If you’ve been waiting for permission to keep your head down and finish what you started, let this be it. There’s a quiet strength in not needing the last word while the outcome is still in motion. As Dan Rather put it: “Don't taunt the alligator until after you've crossed the creek.”

The image is vivid because the lesson is practical: when you’re still in the creek, you’re still exposed. The “alligator” might be a competitor, a volatile relationship, an unpredictable market, or your own old habits. And the creek is the messy middle, where progress is real, but safety isn’t guaranteed yet. In that stretch, bravado is expensive. Provoking, boasting, or broadcasting can turn manageable risk into avoidable damage.

Applied well, this quote is a strategy for leadership and peace of mind. Don’t spike the football at halftime. Don’t burn a bridge you may still need to cross. Don’t “teach someone a lesson” while you’re still negotiating, still healing, still building credibility. Instead, keep your energy on the next foothold: tighten the plan, protect your leverage, and let results do the talking after the danger has passed.

Dan Rather earned his authority the hard way, by reporting through decades of high-stakes national moments, where a premature conclusion or a careless word could distort the truth and amplify the fallout.

Today, choose one creek you’re crossing and practice discreet resilience: postpone the announcement, delay the clapback, keep the win private, and take one concrete step that moves you to solid ground, then let your calm be the signal that you’re nearly across.