America is the only nation in history which miraculously has gone directly from barbarism to degeneration without the usual interval of civilization.

Americans' great and secret fear is that America may turn out to be a phenomenon rather than a civilization.

We don't want an America that is closed to the world. What we want is a world that is open to America.

So who's perfect? Washington had false teeth. Franklin was nearsighted. Mussolini had syphilis. Unpleasant things have been said about Walt Whitman and Oscar Wilde. Tchaikovsky had his problems, too. And Lincoln was constipated.

They have formed their own 4-H club - the hopeless, hysterical hypochondriacs of history.

Half of the American people have never read a newspaper. Half never voted for President. One hopes it is the same half.