We all have a civic duty, but money seems to motivate some people,

Paying tax should be framed as a glorious civic duty worthy of gratitude - not a punishment for making money.

Where are our Men of abilities? Why do they not come forth to save their Country?

The reason the government sells the census as your ticket to getting goodies - rather than as your civic duty - is that distributing goodies is now all the government does.

Anytime there is an expenditure of large amounts of money people get nervous. There are times they would like more options and possibly better service and I think a lot of those things could be brought about with our own utility, ... But, anytime they see the city spending money they think it will cost them in the long run.

To me, history ought to be a source of pleasure. It isn't just part of our civic responsibility. To me, it's an enlargement of the experience of being alive, just the way literature or art or music is."

[The Title Always Comes Last; NEH 2003 Jefferson Lecturer interview profile]