You can’t trust those damn Catholics.

When the fabric of the universe becomes unknown, it is the duty of the university to produce weavers.

I often have said that to be a college president, you need a thick skin, a good sense of humor, and nerves like sewer pipes.

If people want to pigeon hole you then just view it as an opportunity to prove them wrong and show that you are different to what they think you are.

Intellectual curiosity drove Einstein to some of the world's most important discoveries.

I believe that it is higher education's purpose and calling to keep open the door to the American dream.

I spent the first 18 years of my life in the pastoral town of Vernal, Utah, in the shadows of the Book Cliffs and the Uinta Mountains.

So if a college education is indispensable, the challenge as I see it is how to make it more accessible.

To be sure, American higher education is a diverse ecosystem, comprising institutions of all sizes, price tags, and mission statements.

I believe everything learned in college is an answer to a question that someone has posed. Questions get posed differently and the answers that come back transport us to places we never knew existed.

Being president of a major public university is the most political nonpolitical office around.

I love to buying books to create my sacred library.

Excellence is inconveniently difficult.

I want to glide in a world of beauty, ’ I said. ‘To be carried away into a world of luxurious things.

I'm very traditional, believe it or not. My daughters are not allowed to date until they're at least 16 and I'm going to make it 18 for the next one.

But I don't think people take bad advice. They've got intuition too, you know. In fact I'd be surprised if they take any advice at all.

Society can transport money from rich to poor only in a leaky bucket

I want to undo this. To make it right. But I have no idea how. I don't seem to know how to open up to people without getting the door slammed in my face. So I do nothing.

Every one on the earth should believe that he has something to give to the world which cannot otherwise be given.

When Dr. King was murdered, I had no idea who he was. But as soon as I heard his words on television that night when I was 9 years old, I was dumbstruck, awestruck by their power.

A warrior of light needs both patience and speed. He treats each situation as if it were unique.