As a rule, the most dangerous ideas are not the ones that divide people but those on which they agree.

The war against Vietnam is only the ghastliest manifestation of what I'd call imperial provincialism, which afflicts America's whole culture-aware only of its own history, insensible to everything which isn't part of the local atmosphere.

To be great is to assume great concerns.

The only virtue a character needs to possess between hardcovers, even if he bears a real person's name, is vitality: if he comes to life in our imaginations, he passes the test.

You tell me your favorite novelists and I'll tell you whom you vote for, or whether you vote at all.

Strange as it may seem, no amount of learning can cure stupidity, and formal education positively fortifies it.

When you close your eyes to tragedy, you close your eyes to greatness.