As I watched my grandfather work with people who were impoverished, I began to understand that to be truly human, one must serve.

I am suggesting that quality in undergraduate education means giving students a perspective that is global.

In the end, excellence in education means excellence in teaching, and if this country would give the status to first grade teachers that we give to full professors, this one act alone would revitalize the nation's schools.

Literature is an inquiry into the deepest yearnings of the human spirit.

To put it simply, school readiness means creating in this country a public love of children.

A poor surgeon hurts one person at a time. A poor teacher hurts 130.

Music gives us a language that cuts across the disciplines, helps us to see connections and brings a more coherent meaning to our world.