I am not a conservative — neo or paleo. Conservatism is a respectable outlook... I just do not happen to be that animal.

The students [of the 60's] substituted conspicuous compassion for their parents' conspicuous consumption.

This nation's impulse is toward the future, and tradition seems more of a shackle to it than an inspiration.

Most of all I admire Mozart's capacity to be both deep and rational, a combination often said to be impossible.

There is no real education that does not respond to felt need; anything else acquired is trifling display.

The importance of these [college] years for an American cannot be overestimated. They are civilization's only chance to get to him.

Various kinds of self-forgetting, usually accompanied by illusions and myths, make it possible to live without the intransigent facing of death-in the sense of always thinking about it and what it means for life and the things dear in life-which is characteristic of a serious life.