Short

To think for yourself — not narrowly, but rather as a mind — you must be able to talk to yourself: well, openly, and at length.

You cannot afford to think of being here to receive an education: you will do much better to think of being here to claim one.

It means insisting that work be as meaningful as love and friendship in our lives. It means, therefore, the courage to be different.

A good education in skepticism can help us to discover those bad guesses, and to destroy them with mockery and contempt.

Our country is not a completed work. Over the two centuries since 1776, America has gone from beginning to beginning.

Success without honor is an unseasoned dish; it will satisfy your hunger but it won't taste good.

There is a narrow but distinct line between productive dissent and counter-productive disruption. It is possible to dissent without being destructive.

Our problems are manmade — therefore, they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings.

We all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal.

The great challenge facing every individual graduating today is to remain awake through great periods of social change.

All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.

Through our scientific genius we have made of this world a neighborhood; now through our moral and spiritual genius we must make of it a brotherhood.