The slaves were simply turned loose without any property. They were easily recognizable. They were black. They were suddenly free to go exploring.

There's almost nothing like native Midwesterner anywhere else in the world, except in Asia. They're miracles all in themselves.

Like all real heroes, Charley had a fatal flaw. He refused to believe that he had gonorrhea, whereas the truth was that he did.

Teaching, may I say, is the noblest profession of all in a democracy.

Love is where you find it. I think it is foolish to go looking for it, and I think it can often be poisonous.

Armistice Day has become Veterans' Day. Armistice Day was sacred. Veterans' Day is not. So I will throw Veterans' Day over my shoulder. Armistice Day I will keep. I don't want to throw away any sacred things. What else is sacred? Oh, Romeo and Juliet, for instance. And all music is.

I now believe that the only way in which Americans can rise above their ordinariness, can mature sufficiently to rescue themselves and to help rescue their planet, is through enthusiastic intimacy with works of their own imagination.