"When Gen. Dwight Eisenhower was president, he invited writer James Michner to an occasion at the White House. Mr. Michner replied, ‘Dear Mr. President, I received your invitation three days after I had agreed to speak a few words at a dinner honoring the wonderful high school teacher who taught me to write. I know that you will not miss me at your dinner, but she might at hers.'

With understanding, the President answered, ‘In a lifetime a man can live under 15 or 16 presidents, but a really fine teacher comes into his life but rarely."

"Parents are so afraid not to be up-to-date and hip that often they allow children to determine what's best for them. You don't have to ban electronic games or television from a child's repertoire of fun and games, but there's a greater danger that parents will overlook more imaginative ways to engage their children...

"We want our children to understand the latest developments in technology, but we should also want to stimulate their minds to appreciate beauty. Children today are subject to so much ugliness and brutality, we run the risk of depriving them of aesthetic triumphs. Once nearly every school child could quote that line from Keats: "A thing of beauty is a joy forever." No longer true, and more's the pity." ["Lions and Snakes Forever" by Suzanne Fields. The Washington Times, September 25, 2006]