If Civilization Has Risen From The Stone

Education In The United States Is A Passion And A Paradox. Millions Want It, And Commend It, And Are Busy About It. At The Same Time They Degrade It By Trying To Get It Free Of Charge And Free Of Work.

Of True Knowledge At Any Time, A Good Part Is Merely Convenient, Necessary Indeed To The Worker, But Not To An Understanding Of His Subject: One Can Judge A Building Without Knowing Where To Buy The Bricks; One Can Understand A Violin Sonata Without Knowing How To Score For The Instrument. The Work May In Fact Be Better Understood Without A Knowledge Of The Details Of Its Manufacture, Of Attention To These Tends To Distract From Meaning And Effect.

It Is Only In The Shadows, When Some Fresh Wave, Truly Original, Truly Creative, Breaks Upon The Shore, That There Will Be A Rediscovery Of The West.

The Intellectuals' Chief Cause Of Anguish Are One Another's Works.

It Is Always Some Illusion That Creates Disillusion, Especially In The Young, For Whom The Only Alternative To Perfection Is Cynicism.