An excellent plumber is infinitely more admirable than an incompetent philosopher.

We cannot have islands of excellence in a sea of slovenly indifference to standards.

But if we believe what we profess concerning the worth of the individual, then the idea of individual development within a framework of ethical purpose must become our deepest concern, our national preoccupation, our passion, our obsession. We must think of education as relevant for everyone everywhere - at all ages and in all conditions of life.

History never looks like history when you are living through it. It always looks confusing and messy, and it always feels uncomfortable.

Much education today is monumentally ineffective. All too often we are giving young people cut flowers when we should be teaching them to grow their own plants.

Leaders develop their styles as they interact with their constituencies. They move toward the style that seems most effective in dealing with the mixture of elements that make up their constituencies.

To sensible men, every day is a day of reckoning.