Benno C. Schmidt, Jr.

"To take the measure of oneself by reference to one's colleagues leads to envy or complacency rather than constructive self-examination. "

"Yale is a crucible in American life for the accommodation of intellectual achievement, of wisdom, of refinement, with the democratic ideals of openness, of social justice and of equal opportunity. "

"Yale's greatness carries an urgent need to guard against the fall of excellence into exclusivity, of refinement into preciousness, of elegance into class and convention. "