Bergen Evans
Bergen Evans
Bergen Baldwin Evanswas a Northwestern University professor of English, and a television host. He received a George Foster Peabody Award in 1957 for excellence in broadcasting for his CBS TV series The Last Word...
men humanity religion
The civilized man has a moral obligation to be skeptical. . . . Any man who for one moment abandons or suspends the questioning spirit has for that moment betrayed humanity.
writing skills confusion
Speech is highly elliptical. It would scarcely be endurable otherwise. Ellipsis is indispensable to the writer or speaker who wants to be brief and pithy, but it can easily cause confusion and obscurity and must be used with skill.
writing thinking punctuation-marks
It (the dash ) is a comfortable punctuation mark since even the most rigorous critic can seldom claim that any particular example of it is a misuse. Its overuse is its greatest danger, and the writer who can't resist dashes may be suspected of uncoordinated thinking.
leadership college average
Legislators who are of even average intelligence stand out among their colleagues. . . . A cultured college president has become as much a rarity as a literate newspaper publisher. A financier interested in economics is as exceptional as a labor leader interested in the labor movement. For the most part our leaders are merely following out in front; they [only] marshal us in the way that we are going.
coffee spoons civilized
Most civilized lives are measured out with coffee spoons.
past may
We may be through with the past, but the past is not through with us.
leader way following
For the most part our leaders are merely following out in front; they do but marshal us the way that we are going.
essence witch procedures
That is the essence of a witch-hunt, that any questioning of the evidence or the procedures in itself constitutes proof of complicity.
vices virtue mere
The mere abhorrence of vice is not a virtue at all.
mean successful adjusting
Words are one of our chief means of adjusting to all the situations of life. The better control we have over words, the more successful our adjustment is likely to be.
wisdom madness cynicism
Stoicism is the wisdom of madness and cynicism the madness of wisdom.