For the kind of places I've written for and the kind of writing that I've done, the general way to think about your audience is to think about somebody who's like yourself, but in a completely different discipline. — Louis Menand Copy Share Image
“For Peirce, inquiry is always communal—it is the median of many observations that gives the position of the star—and the last analysis really is… — Louis Menand Copy Share Image
If time is a staircase, reality is a Slinky. Decades can be parsed. Television, frequently accused of destabilizing life, is actually what stitches the… — Louis Menand Copy Share Image
Basically what you want in any profession - I would say the same thing if I were a lawyer or a doctor - is… — Louis Menand Copy Share Image
“In modern societies, the reproduction of custom is no longer understood to be one of the chief purposes of existence, and the ends of… — Louis Menand Copy Share Image
One of the functions of literary criticism, or reviewing, generally - and I, most of my reviews actually are not about literature - but… — Louis Menand Copy Share Image
You have to have students wanting to take the courses, otherwise you're not going, they're not going to be very effective. — Louis Menand Copy Share Image
“We do not (on Holmes’s reasoning) permit the free expression of ideas because some individual may have the right one. No individual alone can… — Louis Menand Copy Share Image
Literature is being taught as though it were only political medicine or political poison-a view that is not only illiberal but illiterate. — Louis Menand Copy Share Image
“[According to Holmes], ‘Every year if not every day we have to wager our salvation upon some prophecy based upon imperfect knowledge. While that… — Louis Menand Copy Share Image
It's difficult to get a job and people stay in school longer because they're employed as teaching assistants or instructors by their schools, by… — Louis Menand Copy Share Image
Just in higher education alone, more people go to college now, by enormous amounts, than went to college in the '50's and '60's. So… — Louis Menand Copy Share Image
Obviously input is helpful to faculty in trying to come up with a curriculum, but ultimately it's the faculty's job to know what students… — Louis Menand Copy Share Image
Universities are set up to get people to work together by having them disagree with each other. — Louis Menand Copy Share Image
“What [Peirce] meant was that since nature evolves by chance variation, then the laws of nature must evolve by chance variation as well. Variations… — Louis Menand Copy Share Image
Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the Titanic. Never, btw, ask that androgynous paper clip anything.… — Louis Menand Copy Share Image
![“[According to Holmes], ‘Every year if not every day we have to wager our salvation upon some prophecy based upon imperfect knowledge. While that experiment is part of our system I think that we should be eternally vigilant against attempts to check the expression of opinions that we loathe and…” quote by Louis Menand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/656/louis-menand-8583_death_according-to-holmes-every-year-if-not-ev_403601.jpg)
![“What [Peirce] meant was that since nature evolves by chance variation, then the laws of nature must evolve by chance variation as well. Variations that are compatible with survival are reproduced; variations that are incompatible are weeded out. A tiny deviation from the norm in the outcome of a…” quote by Louis Menand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/9e5/louis-menand-8583_long-run_what-peirce-meant-was-that-since-nature_505181.jpg)
