The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference, and undernourishment.

It must be remembered that the purpose of education is not to fill the minds of students with facts... it is to teach them to think.

It is not so important to be serious as it is to be serious about the important things. The monkey wears an expression of seriousness which would do credit to any college student, but the monkey is serious because he itches.

More free time means more time to waste. The worker who used to have only a little time in which to get drunk and beat his wife now has time to get drunk, beat his wife - and watch TV.

For those who are going to learn from books, learning the art of reading would seem to be indispensable.

Mathematics ... is indispensable as an intellectual technique. In many subjects, to think at all is to think like a mathematician.

Education is not to reform students or amuse them or to make them expert technicians. It is to unsettle their minds, widen their horizons, inflame their intellects, teach them to think straight, if possible.