David Geffen

[To a psychedelic rock sextet call Strawberry Alarm Clock] We’re going to get you six Ed Sullivan shows and we’re going to get you on Janis Joplin’s next tour. [After the meeting on being told by Schiffman ‘David, what are you doing? Six Ed Sullivan shows? Are you kidding? Janis Joplin wouldn’t piss on these people! We are not going to give them any Janis Joplin dates’] If they have another hit, we’ll get them one Ed Sullivan show, and we’ll get them a couple of dates on somebody else’s tour. I don’t care. And if they don’t have another hit, well, f*ck ’em.

There was no word dyslexia when I was a kid. You were just dumb.

Asking me to come work here is the dumbest idea you ever had. It has been a waste of a year.

There are so few great talents, it’s always a discovery when you find the one.

From the day I arrived, California seemed like an enchanted land.

It’s an idiotic thing that you have to be a college graduate to be an agent.

Empower yourselves with a good education, then get out there and use that education to build a country worthy of your boundless promise.

A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car, but if he has a university education he may steal the whole railroad.

I was dyslexic, I had no understanding of schoolwork whatsoever. I certainly would have failed IQ tests. And it was one of the reasons I left school when I was 15 years old. And if I – if I’m not interested in something, I don’t grasp it.

I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn’t learn something from him.

Show me the books he loves and I shall know the man far better than through mortal friends.

In addition to an education, kids were supposed to graduate with some basic values, self-discipline, and life skills. A little common sense wouldn’t hurt either. Our schools don’t teach that anymore, instead we’re more concerned about kids having self-esteem and feeling good about themselves than we are about preparing them for real life. The politically correct crowd has taken over our schools, and as a result we are failing our children.

In a global economy where the most valuable skill you can sell is your knowledge, a good education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity – it is a prerequisite.

Education – lifelong education for everyone – from toddlers to workers well advanced in their careers – is indeed an excellent investment for individuals and society as a whole.

Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.

There was no word dyslexia when I was a kid. You were just dumb.

The educated Southerner has no use for an ‘R’, except at the beginning of a word.

As a community college professor for over twenty years, I’ve seen the determination, resilience and dedication of countless students. Regardless of circumstances, they show up. They work hard. They believe anything is possible.

Continuous learning is the minimum requirement for success in any field!

What is life but education, anyway?

Research is what I’m doing when I don’t know what I’m doing.