Lyndon B. Johnson

It is a truism that education is no longer a luxury. Education in this day and age is a necessity.

We believe, that is, you and I, that education is not an expense. We believe it is an investment.

Each year more than 100,000 high school graduates, with proved ability, do not enter college because they cannot afford it. And if we cannot educate today’s youth, what will we do in 1970 when elementary enrollment will be 5 million greater than 1960? And high school enrollment will rise by 5 million. College enrollment will increase by more than 3 million.

Poverty has many roots, but the taproot is ignorance.

We are now embarked on another venture to put the American dream to work in meeting the new demands of a new day. Once again we must start where men would improve their society have always known they must begin – with an educational system restudied, reinforced, and revitalized.

Every man, everywhere, should be free to develop his talents to their full potential – unhampered by arbitrary barriers of race or birth or income.

I would like to be a scholar in whatever I do, a scholar is never finished, he is always seeking and I am always seeking.

Education consists mainly of what we have unlearned.

Education… has produced a vast population able to read but unable to distinguish what is worth reading.

An average English word is four letters and a half. By hard, honest labor I’ve dug all the large words out of my vocabulary and shaved it down till the average is three and a half… I never write metropolis for seven cents, because I can get the same money for city. I never write policeman, because I can get the same price for cop…. I never write valetudinarian at all, for not even hunger and wretchedness can humble me to the point where I will do a word like that for seven cents; I wouldn’t do it for fifteen.

We believe, that is, you and I, that education is not an expense. We believe it is an investment.

Education is the path from cocky ignorance to miserable uncertainty.

What is life but education, anyway?

I don’t give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way.

Education can’t focus only on developing our wonderful brain. We also need warm-heartedness. This is my view.

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

Women who earn a certificate or degree from a community college, especially in STEM-related field, will be ready to move into a good-paying job in the growing global economy. Community colleges also offer mentorship and support that goes far beyond the classroom.

[On his donation of $100 million to UCLA in 2012 adding to the $200 million he donated in 2002] The cost of a world-class medical education should not deter our future innovators, doctors and scientists from the path they hope to pursue. We need the students at this world-class institution to be driven by determination and the desire to do their best work and not by the fear of crushing debt. I hope in doing this that others will be inspired to do the same.

What I’m learning is that there is so much to unlearn.

The rising costs of higher education coupled with the stress of paying student loans are putting increasing pressure on students.

School reports were always pretty bad. I never ever did my homework. I always turned up for lessons as I liked my teachers but my report said I didn’t try very hard.