Education in the West, particularly higher education in America, has lost the ability to see the universe from very far away. — Charles Van Doren Copy Share Image
I worked hard at memorizing lists of facts and figures, and carried with me a book of facts. — Charles Van Doren Copy Share Image
I cannot take back one word or action; the past does not change for anyone. — Charles Van Doren Copy Share Image
I was involved, deeply involved, in a deception... I have deceived my friends - and I had millions of them. — Charles Van Doren Copy Share Image
“You have not grasped a complex unity if all you know about it is how it is one. You must also know how it… — Charles Van Doren Copy Share Image
The last part, the part you're now approaching, was for Aristotle the most important for happiness. — Charles Van Doren Copy Share Image
Some of you read with me 40 years ago a portion of Aristotle's Ethics, a selection of passages that describe his idea of happiness.… — Charles Van Doren Copy Share Image
“The viewer of television, the listener to radio, the reader of magazines, is presented with a whole complex of elements—all the way from ingenious rhetoric to carefully selected data and statistics—to make it easy for him to “make up his own mind” with the minimum of difficulty and effort. But the packaging is often done so effectively that the viewer,… — Charles Van Doren Copy Share
“we can learn only from our “betters.” We must know who they are and how to learn from them.” — Charles Van Doren Copy Share Image
“Every book should be read no more slowly than it deserves, and no more quickly than you can read it with satisfaction and comprehension.” — Charles Van Doren Copy Share Image
“Full ownership of a book only comes when you have made it a part of yourself, and the best way to make yourself a… — Charles Van Doren Copy Share Image
I've learned a lot about good and evil. They are not always what they appear to be. — Charles Van Doren Copy Share Image