“A good newspaper, I suppose, is a nation talking to itself.”

“A good newspaper is never good enough, but a lousy newspaper is a joy forever.”

“I have no doubt that the nation has suffered more from undue secrecy than from undue disclosure. The government takes good care of itself.”

“They actually succeed in spelling his name right in the newspapers. That in itself is fame, on the continent.”

“The mandarins of culture—what do they do to teach the common folk to read? It's no good writing down lists of books for farmers and compiling five-foot shelves; you've got to go out and visit the people yourself—take the books to them, talk to the teachers and bully the editors of country newspapers and farm magazines and tell the children stories—and then little by little you begin to get good books circulating in the veins of the nation. It's a great work, mind you!”

“Good conversational debate is an end in itself, and talking for the love of conversation is what makes us human.”