It Is Ironic That The United States

Whatever The Intellectual Is Too Certain Of, If He Is Healthily Playful, He Begins To Find Unsatisfactory. The Meaning Of His Intellectual Life Lies Not In The Possession Of Truth But In The Quest For New Uncertainties.

There Has Always Been In Our National Experience A Type Of Mind Which Elevates Hatred To A Kind Of Creed; For This Mind, Group Hatreds Take A Place In Politics Similar To The Class Struggle In Some Other Modern Societies.

The Intellectual ... May Live For Ideas, As I Have Said, But Something Must Prevent Him From Living For One Idea, From Becoming Obsessive Or Grotesque. Although There Have Been Zealots Whom We May Still Regard As Intellectuals, Zealotry Is A Defect Of The Breed And Not Of The Essence.

In Using The Terms Play And Playfulness, I Do Not Intend To Suggest Any Lack Of Seriousness; Quite The Contrary. Anyone Who Has Watched Children, Or Adults, At Play Will Recognize That There Is No Contradiction Between Play And Seriousness, And That Some Forms Of Play Induce A Measure Of Grave Concentration Not So Readily Called Forth By Work.

It Is The Historic Glory Of The Intellectual Class Of The West In Modern Times That, Of All The Classes Which Could Be Called In Any Sense Privileged, It Has Shown The Largest And Most Consistent Concern For The Well-being Of The Classes Which Lie Below It In The Social Scale.