“The life of the arts, far from being an interruption, a distraction, in the life of the nation, is close to the center of a nation's purpose - and is a test to the quality of a nation's civilization.”

“A nation which has forgotten the quality of courage which in the past has been brought to public life is not as likely to insist upon or regard that quality in its chosen leaders today - and in fact we have forgotten.”

“A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people. ”

“Our progress as a nation can be not swifter than our progress in education.”

“A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces but also by the men it honors, the men it remembers.”

“A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on. Ideas have endurance without death.”

“We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people."[Remarks on the 20th Anniversary of the Voice of America; Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, February 26, 1962]”