用were不对吧，标点好像也有问题

2 用were不对吧，标点好像也有问题

“The big bosses know better,” or “they see the bigger picture,” were the catchphrases of my seasoned colleagues. 这是俄罗斯前外交官Boris Bondarev在《经济学人》应邀专栏写的一篇文章中的一句话。用were是因为语义一致的缘故吗？另外，两个逗号应该在引号的外面。老师们怎么看待？