Educational progress in the past generation has given to this country a population more literate, more cultured, in the best sense of the word, more aware of the complexities of modern civilized life than ever before in our history. And while the methods of spreading education are new, the lessons of education are eternally old. The books may be new but the truth is old.

The qualities of a true education, I take it, remain what they were when Washington insisted upon its importance.

First among the qualities is a sense of fair play among men.

As education grows men come to recognize their essential dependence one upon the other. There is revealed to them the true nature of society and of government which, in a large measure, culminates in the art of human cooperation.

The second great attribute of education is peculiarly appropriate to a great democracy. It is a sense of equality among men when they are dealing with the things of the mind. Inequality may linger in the world of material things but great music, great literature, great art and the wonders of science are and should be open to all.

Finally, a true education depends upon freedom in the pursuit of truth. No group, no government can properly prescribe precisely what should constitute the body of knowledge with which true education is concerned. The truth is found when men are free to pursue it. Genuine education is present only when the springs from which knowledge comes are pure. It is this belief in the freedom of the mind, written into our fundamental law, observed in our everyday dealings with the problems of life, that distinguishes the United States of America, I think, above every Nation in the world.

In our ability to keep pure the sources of knowledge—in our mind’s freedom to winnow the chaff from the good grain—in the even temper, in the calmness of our everyday relationships—in our willingness to face the details of fact and the needs of temporary emergencies—in all of these lie our future and our children’s future.

“On your own heads, in your own hands, the sin and the saving lies！”