The most important American addition to the World Experience was the simple surprising fact of America. We have helped prepare mankind for all its later surprises.

The hero created himself; the celebrity is created by the media.

Human models are more vivid and more persuasive than explicit moral commands.

Disagreement produces debate but dissent produces dissension.

It is only a short step from exaggerating what we can find in the world to exaggerating our power to remake the world.

When I was living in England I found that the more I lived abroad, the more American I discovered I was.

Historians will not fail to note that a people who could spend $300 billion on defense refused to spend a tiny fraction of that total to keep their libraries open in the evening.