David Geffen

Everybody was recording Laura Nyro’s songs and all of a sudden she was a very successful song-writer. And beginning to become hot. She had three songs in the top ten at one time…

I’m going to go down and take care of the bill. I’m not going to embarrass you, just let me do it. I had such a great time, I just want it to be my treat. [On returning after several minutes red faced] They won’t take my check, I don’t know what we’re going to do. [Robertson said ‘David, what we’ve spent here, we’re going to have to do a lot of dishes.’] I’m going to call Prince Rupert [Loewenstein] and ask him to call the hotel and tell them I’m good for it. Or maybe he can pay the bill and then I’ll pay him back or something. [Prince Rupert vouched for his credit and the hotel agreed to accept Geffen’s check.]

People who are fools don’t get successful, and they don’t get to be successful if they are worried about their popularity.

Why not blame the libraries? They’re full of violent books.

Before you talk to people in music or entertainment or video games, or even gun control, you need to talk to psychiatrists.

I don’t think people get to be successful unless they have very strong egos.

I was a great student. I was good at everything.

By making college unaffordable and student loans unbearable, we risk deterring our best and brightest from pursuing higher education and securing a good paying job.

Each year more than 100,000 high school graduates, with proved ability, do not enter college because they cannot afford it. And if we cannot educate today’s youth, what will we do in 1970 when elementary enrollment will be 5 million greater than 1960? And high school enrollment will rise by 5 million. College enrollment will increase by more than 3 million.

Education helps one case cease being intimidated by strange situations.

It doesn’t hurt to get more education.

Men may be born free; they cannot be born wise; and it is the duty of the university to make the free wise.

The most crucial use of knowledge and education is to understand the importance of developing a good heart.

… because in the United States of America, no one should go broke because they chose to go to college.

Most of all we need an education system which will create an educated mind. This is a mind not simply a repository of information and skills, but a mind that is a source of creative skepticism, characterized by a willingness to challenge old assumptions and to be challenged, a spaciousness of outlook, and convictions that are deeply held, but which new facts and new experiences can always modify. It means an educational system which does not simply equip the students to adjust to society, but which enables the student to challenge and to modify, and at times reject, if necessary, the received wisdom of his elders.

Economists report that a college education adds many thousands of dollars to a man’s lifetime income – which he then spends sending his son to college.

In mathematics you don’t understand things. You just get used to them.

To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe.

In a global economy where the most valuable skill you can sell is your knowledge, a good education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity – it is a prerequisite.

I don’t give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way.

Education is the best provision for old age.