History is a jangle of accidents, blunders, surprises and absurdities, and so is our knowledge of it, but if we are to report it at all we must impose some order upon it.

The American people...have a stake in non-conformity. For they know that the American genius is non-conformist.

Whether history will judge this war to be different or not we cannot say. But this we can say with certainty: A government and a society that silences those who dissent is one that has lost its way.

The greatest danger we face is not any particular kind of thought. The greatest danger we face is absence of thought.

History, we can confidently assert, is useful in the sense that art and music, poetry and flowers, religion and philosophy are useful. Without it - as with these - life would be poorer and meaner; without it we should be denied some of those intellectual and moral experiences which give meaning and richness to life. Surely it is no accident that the study of history has been the solace of many of the noblest minds of every generation.

Education is essential to change, for education creates both new wants and the ability to satisfy them.

The Americans who framed our Constitution felt that without freedom of religion no other freedom counted.