Even death itself sometimes fails to bring the dignity and serenity which one would fain associate with old age.

The essence of immorality is the tendency to make an exception of myself.

Unless our conception of patriotism is progressive, it cannot hope to embody the real affection and the real interest of the nation.

The task of youth is not only its own salvation but the salvation of those against whom it rebels.

Perhaps I may record here my protest against the efforts, so often made, to shield children and young people from all that has to do with death and sorrow, to give them a good time at all hazards on the assumption that the ills of life will come soon enough. Young people themselves often resent this attitude on the part of their elders; they feel set aside and belittled as if they were denied the common human experiences.

I might believe I had unusual talent if I did not know what good music was; I might enjoy half an hour's practice a day if I were busy and happy the rest of the time. You do not know what life means when all the difficulties are removed! I am simply smothered and sickened with advantages. It is like eating a sweet dessert the first thing in the morning.

Civilization is a method of living, an attitude of equal respect for all men.