Gilbert Highet

“The chief aim of education is to show you, after you make a livelihood, how to enjoy living; and you can live longest and best and most rewardingly by attaining and preserving the happiness of learning.”

“Books are not lumps of lifeless paper, but minds alive on the shelves.”

“The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the love of ourselves.”

“The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery.”

“A teacher must believe in the value and interest of his subject as a doctor believes in health.”

“Language is a living thing. We can feel it changing. Parts of it become old: they drop off. Parts of it grow.”

“The main duty of a university is not to teach economics and sociology and psychology; it is to teach the student to see the past and its greatness.”

“The pleasures of the intellect are exquisitely keen, and they are lasting.”

“What is a classic? It is a work of literature which is either the first of its kind, and the best; or the best of its kind, though not the first.”

“Parody is a game. It is a game of skill. A parodist must not only be able to write like his victim; he must be able to write better.”

“The best way to save face is to keep the lower part of it shut.”

“It is one of the strange discoveries of man that he is a problem to himself.”