I only regret, that I have but one
life to lose for my country.
Nathan Hale, Class of 1773
I am on the hilltop, and must go
down into the valley; and when Uncas follows in my footsteps, there will no
longer be any of the blood of the Sagamores, for my boy is the last of the
Mohicans.
James Fenimore Cooper, attended 1803–05
[Quoted in the first formal
intercity telegraph message:] What hath God wrought!
Samuel F. B. Morse, Class of 1810
The Forgotten Man … works, he
votes, generally he prays—but he always pays. … All the burdens fall
on him, or on her, for it is time to remember that the Forgotten Man is not
seldom a woman.
William Graham Sumner, Class of 1863
Conspicuous consumption of valuable
goods is a means of reputability to the gentleman of leisure.
Thorstein Veblen, 1884PhD
Gentlemen do not read each other’s
mail.
Henry L. Stimson, Class of 1888
Grant to us the serenity of mind to
accept that which cannot be changed; the courage to change that which can be
changed, and the wisdom to know the one from the other.
Reinhold Niebuhr ’14BD, ’15MA
[Of hard-core pornography:] I know
it when I see it.
Potter Stewart ’37, ’41LLB
My fellow Americans, our long
national nightmare is over. Our Constitution works; our great Republic is a
government of laws and not of men. Here the people rule.
Gerald R. Ford ’41LLB
We are a nation of communities, of
tens and tens of thousands of ethnic, religious, social, business, labor union,
neighborhood, regional, and other organizations, all of them varied, voluntary,
and unique … a brilliant diversity spread like stars, like a thousand
points of light in a broad and peaceful sky.
George H. W. Bush ’48
Read my lips: no new taxes.
George H. W. Bush ’48
No one on his deathbed ever said, “I
wish I had spent more time on my business.”
Arnold M. Zack ’56LLB
We are now in the Me Decade.
Tom Wolfe ’57PhD
The idea was to prove at every foot
of the way up that you were one of the elected and anointed ones who had the
right stuff and
could move higher and higher and even—ultimately, God willing, one day—that
you might be able to join that special few at the very top, that elite who had
the capacity to bring tears to men’s eyes, the very Brotherhood of the Right
Stuff itself.
Tom Wolfe ’57PhD
Everybody on this planet is
separated by only six other people. Six degrees of separation. Between us and
everybody else on this planet.
John Guare ’63MFA
Say hello to my little friend!
Oliver Stone, attended 1965
The great story here … is this
vast right-wing conspiracy that has been conspiring against my husband since
the day he announced for president.
Hillary R. Clinton ’73JD
I experimented with marijuana a time
or two. And I didn’t like it, and I didn’t inhale.
William J. Clinton ’73JD
It depends on what the meaning of
the word “is” is.
William J. Clinton ’73JD 
