Vincent Massey

"It is the University's function to turn out well-balanced persons with an understanding of themselves and of their place in life."

"We are not born of the passions of war or of the fervours of revolution. And we grew quietly into the realization that, set as we are in a great wide land, with all our differences, there are certain traditions and ideals which we had in common, and which could best be preserved in a distinct society of our own."

"The age which we live in is not suited to idle complacency or to pleasant dreams of past greatness."

"Rational comprehension of the universe is not enough. We must call to our aid not merely reason, but the vision and the spiritual insight of the ages. These things we must seek."

"I have had what might be called a post graduate course in the most important subject for all Canadians - Canada itself."

"We can best serve the cause of Canadian unity and understanding by living first in and through and then beyond our own immediate traditions."

"In opening and conquering a country great and wild and rich - a country indeed not yet fully known or conquered - we have still to learn more about ourselves and each other."

"This visit "north of 60" was to complete what might be called at least a preliminary survey. I arrived here and realized that my survey had hardly begun."

"It is worthy of notice that many of this generation, fed on text-books, on anthologies and on abstracts, cannot read."

"The great menace of civilization in the present is that we offer an education with too little regard for the roots."

"The neglect of the humanities in present-day education is doubtless not a cause but a symptom of an age."

"Truth must the guide of those who hold the power; but humility is their sign, the promise that their privileges are in safe hands."

"We must pass through the barriers of language and race, of geography and religion, of custom and tradition and we must build on a common foundation."

"Canada is not a melting-pot. Canada is an association of peoples who have, and cherish, great differences but who work together because they can respect themselves and each other."

"Technology has been defined, perhaps a little ungenerously, as "a long Greek name for a bag of tools"."

"In fact, in the far North one sees the northern lights facing south!"

"How great a quality is horse sense! Someone has defined it as that something which keeps horses from betting on men!"

"Old wives' tales are not enough in a day when old wives and old men, too, are constantly moving away from their labours."

"History is the necessary food of good and noble sentiments. It ought to give us at once humility and confidence in the face of greatness."

"It would be foolish and wrong to ignore the fact that all our universities today tread a very dangerous path. Increasingly, they are accepting government money because they are doing things that government wants done. How great a peril is this in a democracy?"

"On behalf of my countrymen, I join you in mourning the death of your distinguished predecessor, the former Governor-General. Canada has lost one of its most honored citizens and the United States, a valued friend. Vincent Massey was a wise and eloquent statesman, and we in the United States were especially honored by his service as the first Minister of Canada."

"It was Prime Minister Laurier who said of Canada's differing components: "I want the marble to remain the marble; I want the granite to remain the granite; I want the oak to remain the oak." This has been the Canadian way. As a result, Canadians have helped to teach the world, as Governor-General Massey once said, that the "toleration of differences is the measure of civilization." Today, more than ever before, we need to apply that understanding to the whole range of world affairs. And to begin with, we must apply it to our dealings with one another."