Theodore Hesburgh

“The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.”

“Voting is a civic sacrament.”

“My basic principle is that you don't make decisions because they are easy; you don't make them because they are cheap; you don't make them because they're popular; you make them because they're right.”

“The very essence of leadership is that you have to have a vision. It's got to be a vision you articulate clearly and forcefully on every occasion.”

“It is easier to exemplify values than to teach them.”

“Faith is not a leap in the dark; it's a leap into the light.”

“The university is a beacon, a lighthouse, and it must not be affected by the storms of the sea.”

“Anyone who refuses to speak out off campus against legal racial discrimination isn't worthy of speaking out on campus against student violations of university regulations.”

“A decade of change is more than a university can bear, but a century of change is not enough.”

“You don't have to be a person of influence to be influential. In fact, the most influential people in my life are probably not even aware of the things they've taught me.”

“The academic life should be a life of reason, not rationalization.”

“All of us are experts at practicing virtue at a distance.”

“I can think of no better way of redeeming this tragic world today than love and laughter. Too many of the young have forgotten how to laugh, and too many of the elders have forgotten how to love.”

“The pursuit of truth is not important; the pursuit of the whole truth is. The whole truth includes the spiritual as well as the material.”