I wanted to see what was going on in the world. I sometimes think I overwished.

In this wry, self-reflective remark, Brokaw frames curiosity as both vocation and burden. Wanting “to see what was going on in the world” evokes the classic journalistic impulse: to witness events firsthand and translate them for others. The follow-up—“I sometimes think I overwished”—adds an ironic twist, suggesting that the reality he encountered (war, tragedy, political upheaval) could be heavier than the youthful desire that propelled him. The line captures a tension central to reporting: the moral and psychological cost of sustained exposure to history-in-the-making, even when that exposure fulfills a lifelong ambition.