“Art is a nation’s most precious heritage. For it is in our works of art that we reveal to ourselves and to others the inner vision which guides us as a nation. And where there is no vision, the people perish.”

The job, of course, will never be finished. For a nation, as for an individual, education is a perpetually unfinished journey, a continuing process of discovery.

In a thousand unseen ways we have drawn shape and strength from the land.

Never miss an opportunity to say a word of congratulation upon anyone’s achievement.

A good president does with executive power what Pablo Picasso did with paint. He takes bills into new and slightly discomfiting territory. He puts extra eyes on policies. He moves the mouth of the Supreme Court from where it should be to where it must be.

Heck by the time a man scratches his behind, clears his throat, and tells me how smart he is, we’ve already wasted fifteen minutes.

Peace is a journey of a thousand miles and it must be taken one step at a time.

I am proud to be a member of a party that opens its doors to all men–and closes its hearts to none.

One hundred years ago, the slave was freed. One hundred years later, the Negro remains in bondage to the color of his skin.

Any man who’s not willing to take half a loaf in a negotiation, well, that man never went to bed hungry.

John ain’t been worth a damn since he started wearing $300 suits.

The noblest search is the search for excellence.

Jerry Ford is so dumb he can’t walk and chew gum at the same time. He’s a nice fellow, but he spent too much time playing football without a helmet.

The Russians feared Ike. They didn’t fear me.

Being president is like being a jackass in a hailstorm. There’s nothing to do but to stand there and take it.

In a nation of millions and a world of billions, the individual is still the first and basic agent of change.

Knowledge is of two kinds: we know a subject itself, or know where to find it.

In place of a hermeneutics we need an erotics of art.

Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit.

Art is the contemplation of the world in a state of grace.

Only by art can we get outside ourselves, instead of seeing only one world, our own, we see it under multiple forms.

We think and name in one world, we live and feel in another.

The supreme question about a work of art is out of how deep a life does it spring.

Thanks to art, instead of seeing one world, our own, we see it multiplied and as many original artists as there are, so many worlds are at our disposal.

Always keep your ego in check and not be afraid to listen. Listening is a great art form.