Children tend to be rather better observers of adults' characters than adults are of children's, because children are so dependent on adults that it is very much in their interest to discover the weaknesses of their elders.

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

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

The liberally educated person is one who is able to resist the easy and preferred answers, not because he is obstinate but because he knows others worthy of consideration.

Nothing is more singular about this generation than its addiction to music.

We need history, not to tell us what happened or to explain the past, but to make the past alive so that it can explain us and make a future possible.

Once the law is broken with impunity, each man regains the right to any means he deems proper or necessary in order to defend himself against the new tyrant, the one who can break the law.