Commencement oratory must eschew anything that smacks of partisan politics, political preference, sex, religion or unduly firm opinion. Nonetheless, there must be a speech: Speeches in our culture are the vacuum that fills a vacuum.

Quote by John Kenneth Galbraith

Topics: Politics Quotes, Speech Quotes

There is an insistent tendency among serious social scientists to think of any institution which...

There is an insistent tendency among serious social scientists to think of any institution which...

Humor is richly rewarding to the person who employs it. It has some value in...

Humor is richly rewarding to the person who employs it. It has some value in...

Where humor is concerned there are no standards - no one can say what is...

Where humor is concerned there are no standards - no one can say what is...

If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.

If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.

We have escapist fiction, so why not escapist biography?

We have escapist fiction, so why not escapist biography?

In economics, hope and faith coexist with great scientific pretension and also a deep desire...

In economics, hope and faith coexist with great scientific pretension and also a deep desire...

One can relish the varied idiocy of human action during a panic to the full,...

One can relish the varied idiocy of human action during a panic to the full,...

Much literary criticism comes from people for whom extreme specialization is a cover for either...

Much literary criticism comes from people for whom extreme specialization is a cover for either...

Commencement oratory must eschew anything that smacks of partisan politics, political preference, sex, religion or...

Commencement oratory must eschew anything that smacks of partisan politics, political preference, sex, religion or...

Meetings are indispensable when you don't want to do anything.

Meetings are indispensable when you don't want to do anything.

Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving that there is no need...

Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving that there is no need...

It would be foolish to suggest that government is a good custodian of aesthetic goals....

It would be foolish to suggest that government is a good custodian of aesthetic goals....

The process by which banks create money is so simple that the mind is repelled.

The process by which banks create money is so simple that the mind is repelled.

Money differs from an automobile or mistress in being equally important to those who have...

Money differs from an automobile or mistress in being equally important to those who have...

In the United States, though power corrupts, the expectation of power paralyzes.

In the United States, though power corrupts, the expectation of power paralyzes.

In economics it is a far, far wiser thing to be right than to be...

In economics it is a far, far wiser thing to be right than to be...

Wealth, in even the most improbable cases, manages to convey the aspect of intelligence.

Wealth, in even the most improbable cases, manages to convey the aspect of intelligence.

The commencement speech is not, I think, a wholly satisfactory manifestation of our culture.

The commencement speech is not, I think, a wholly satisfactory manifestation of our culture.

A person's character is revealed by their speech

A person's character is revealed by their speech

I do not believe in Communism any more than you do but there is nothing...

I do not believe in Communism any more than you do but there is nothing...