I have a passion for academic life, a passion for students and for the ability and the narrative of a university to make a difference in the world in which they reside.

Jewish students, by culture and by ability and by the very nature of their liveliness, make a university a much more habitable place in terms of intellectual life.

I could make a difference.

Little changes can start to make a difference in the world.

Oh, it makes a difference, I thought. And if it doesn't make a difference you will make it make a difference.

I believe in work. If somebody doesn't create something, however small it may be, he gets sick. An awful lot of people feel that they're treading water -- that if they vanished in smoke, it wouldn't mean anything at all in this world. And that's a despairing and destructive feeling. It'll kill you.