After his near-fatal battle with stage 4 cancer years ago, recent open heart surgery, and his struggle with the “widowmaker” heart disease, Fox News star Neil Cavuto opened up in an interview about his regrets — and his advice for others.

Cavuto is controversial to some viewers for his left-leaning coverage and frequent criticisms of former President Donald Trump’s administration.

But there’s no denying Cavuto — who hosts two shows on Fox News and one on Fox Business Channel — but has been a centerpiece of the cable giant for decades.

Five years ago, Cavuto underwent open-heart surgery. He opened up about his health struggles, and how it has shaped his philosophy on life, in an interview with TheWrap on Thursday.

Value your time, Cavuto warned. Be humble… and “don’t be a schmuck.”

“When I started my career, I was selfish and egotistical. Now, I’m just egotistical,” he joked.

Then he got serious.

“You can step on people’s hands as you move up the ladder and that was me,” Cavuto said. “I think cancer told me, ‘Slow down. Quit stepping on hands. Don’t be a schmuck. Don’t be so enamored of yourself that you don’t think all of this can go in a moment, which it can.’”

“I think that has taught me some basic rules of life. Appreciate it and appreciate those around you,” he said. “That’s the best I can do.”

When asked about his current health, he said “I think I’m doing OK.”

“I mean, you never know what’s one thing versus another,” Cavuto said, and that he’s tried to find “balance” in the last few years.

“All these issues and political fights and extremes on the right and the left… All of that is so fleeting and the one thing that binds us is our humanity,” he said. “I think, at our core, we’re all decent human beings. And I think I try to harken to that.”

For that reason, Cavuto said, he avoids “yelling and screaming” at guests on his shows.

“The illness — and even the heart issue five years ago — reinforces that life is so short,” he said. “Is it worth it, being an a**? I don’t think it is.”

“I think that these things have made me who I am, for good or ill, but they’ve also made the try to be much more diligent at my job, to be fair to everyone, and to be decent to everyone,” Cavuto said.

 

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The Horn editorial team