What really matters from the point of view of social capital and civic engagement is not merely nominal membership, but active and involved membership.

Community connectedness is not just about warm fuzzy tales of civic triumph. In measurable and well-documented ways, social capital makes an enormous difference in our lives...Social capital makes us smarter, healthier, safer, richer, and better able to govern a just and stable democracy.

People may go to the library looking mainly for information, but they find each other there.

A society that relies on generalized reciprocity is more efficient than a distrustful society, for the same reason that money is more efficient than barter. Trust lubricates social life. Networks of civic engagement also facilitate coordination and communication and amplify information about the trustworthiness of other individuals.

Look, we ought to do this for our kids... We ought to have a high school so that every kid who grows up here - they're all our kids - gets a good high school education.

Our national myths often exaggerate the role of the individual heroes and understate the importance of collective effort.

How well you do in life shouldn't depend on how well your parents did.