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.

If our democracy is to flourish, it must have criticism; if our government is to function it must have dissent.

America was born of revolt, flourished in dissent, became great through experimentation.

The English love for privacy is proverbial, and has not been exaggerated. A stranger who strikes up a conversation is looked upon with suspicion - unless he happens to be an American, when his ignorance of good manners is indulged.

Censorship always defeats it own purpose, for it creates in the end the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion.

To yearn for a single, and usually simple, explanation of the chaotic materials of the past, to search for a single thread in that most tangled of all skeins, is a sign of immaturity.

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