John W. Gardner Quotes

If one defines the term 'dropout' to mean a person who has given up serious effort to meet his responsibilities then every business office government agency golf club and university faculty would yield its quota.

To sensible men every day is a day of reckoning.

History never looks like history when you are living through it. It always looks confusing and messy and it always feels uncomfortable.

One of the reasons mature people stop learning is that they become less and less willing to risk failure.

John Milton called his school Christ College 'a stony-hearted stepmother'. The ultimate goal of the educational system is to shift to the individual the burden of pursuing his education.

Art gropes it stalks like a hunter lost in the woods listening to itself and to everything around it unsure of itself waiting to pounce.

The world loves talent but pays off on character.

We pay a heavy price for our fear of failure. It is a powerful obstacle to growth. It assures the progressive narrowing of the personality and prevents exploration and experimentation. There is no learning without some difficulty and fumbling. If you want to keep on learning, you must keep on risking failure all your life.