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.

Freedom of inquiry, freedom of discussion, and freedom of teaching - without these a university cannot exist.

Every act of every man is a moral act, to be tested by moral, and not by economic criteria.

There is only one justification for universities, as distinguished from trade schools. They must be centers of criticism.

...The task is overwhelming, and the chance is slight. We must take the chance or die.

Football, fraternities and fun have no place in the university. They were introduced only to entertain those who shouldn't be in the university.

It sometimes seems as though we were trying to combine the ideal of no schools at all with the democratic ideal of schools for everybody by having schools without education.