John F. Kennedy

In our democracy every young person should have an equal opportunity to obtain a higher education, regardless of his station in life or financial means.

Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. Our requirements for world leadership, our hopes for economic growth, and the demands of citizenship itself in an era such as this all require the maximum development of every young American’s capacity. The human mind is our fundamental resource.

No task before our nation is more important than expanding and improving the educational opportunities of all our people. The concept that every American deserves the opportunity to attain the highest level of education of which he is capable is not new to this Administration – it is a traditional ideal of democracy. But it is time that we moved toward the fulfillment of this ideal with more vigor and less delay. For education is both the foundation and the unifying force of our democratic way of life – it is the mainspring of our economic and social progress – it is the highest expression of achievement in our society, ennobling and enriching human life. In short, it is at the same time the most profitable investment society can make and the richest reward it can offer.

Let us not think of education only in terms of its costs, but rather in terms of the infinite potential of the human mind that can be realized through education. Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength for our nation.

Student loans have been helpful to many. But they offer neither incentive nor assistance to those students who, by reason of family or other obligations, are unable or unwilling to go deeper into debt. … It is, moreover, only prudent economic and social policy for the public to share part of the costs of the long period of higher education for those whose development is essential to our national economic and social well-being. All of us share in the benefits – all should share in the costs.

They decided to establish a museum of modern art where works by contemporary artists would be shown. Mother was viewed as a very progressive person, and not everybody liked the paintings she bought.

The Japanese have a wonderful sense of design and a refinement in their art. They try to produce beautiful paintings with the minimum number of strokes.

All art inspires me. Life inspires me. The art of life, thus my own art.

Without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable.

Nothing will stop you from being creative so effectively as the fear of making a mistake.

Art is constant tension and release. That is where artists live, between the two or at times, submerged in either.

People with talent are not interested in showing off behind another person.

I’m terribly intuitive-I always thought I was intellectual about what I do, but I’ve come to the realization that I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing half the time.

Mother’s taste was eclectic and ranged from the ancient world to the contemporary from Europe to the U.S.

Which painting in the National Gallery would I save if there was a fire? The one nearest the door of course.

I believe that all creative people have more than one passion, more than one creative talent.

There is only 1 difference between a madman and me. I am not mad.

The truth is of course is that there is no journey. We are arriving and departing all at the same time.

Artists are people driven by the tension between the desire to communicate and the desire to hide.

Eventually, most people felt MoMA had filled a very important gap.