Tommy Lee Jones Quotes

Harvard is nerd rehab. You have to check yourself in. Those who seek a school filled with self-proclaimed 'nerds,' seek elsewhere. Dropping the H bomb may brand you as an intellectual or a Kennedy. But it will not give you much nerd cred. And that's a good thing.

While MIT and the University of Chicago duke it out for the title of nerdiest school, James Franco and Renee Zellweger show up at Harvard to party. Somehow, miracle of miracles, Harvard is 'cool.'

Having gone to a public school, I thought I knew about posh people. But I didn't know anything until I went to Oxford.

The history of American higher education over the twentieth century is an extraordinary one, the story of the creation of a powerhouse set of institutions that are the envy of the civilized world. Once they were the province, both among the student and faculty bodies, of children of privilege, generally WASPs.

Scratch a Yale man with both hands and you'll be lucky to find a coast-guard. Usually you find nothing at all.

I went to Queen's - a fine university with the proudly stupidest frosh week in the country. This was, when I was there, supposed to be somehow evidence of a higher social class.

I don't come from an Ivy League school or anywhere else.

In truth, I did enjoy the benefits of a Harvard connection.

I ended up going to Harvard College, which was about as likely in my neighborhood as going to the moon.

Millions of people would give literally anything to get their kids into a school like Harvard, and millions more simple admire it as another, brighter world.

I would like my kids to inherit a world where people succeed because of merit and hard work, not entitlement, and where people accept others for what they are and not try to change them.

Columbia University in 1959 had a kind of reputation that interested me.

Barack knows the American Dream because he's lived it, and he wants everyone in this country to have that same opportunity, no matter who we are or where we're from or what we look like or who we love.

Dartmouth represented a great opportunity. I wanted to go to the best possible school I could go to.

What has always made our country special is that it doesn't matter where you come from; it matters where you're going. Our job is to make certain the pathways are open to both our boys and our girls.

I'm black, yeah, but I'm just an actor, so everything I do doesn't have to be color-specific or specific to history. But I got to a point where a lot of people wanted to offer me period pieces, like that's the only thing I could do.

I think there is no racism in this film industry. They are only in need of talent, though it takes time; but, if you are talented, you will get your due. I am thankful to be part of this industry.

I'm in favor of people getting in where they fit in. Wherever you feel you can make the greatest contribution, you should.

Our belief is that aspirations, meritocracy, and a world class institution are the three ingredients our country needs.

Other things equal, we should give a chance to women. That's what I try to do.

Let's remember what truly unites us. It's a common belief in a better economic future. A belief in a meritocracy.

We are building a country where a person's prospects are determined by their own initiative and hard work and not by the color of their skin, place of birth, gender, language, or income of their parents.

The people in the decision-making positions need to be thinking differently about who to hire, and looking more unsparingly at their choices. Why give this person a break over that person? Why give this person a second chance over that person? I do think that's where gender comes into play.

When I was at Paisley Grammar we were equipped to compete with the private-school kids - and encouraged to do so. The sky was the limit, provided we had ability, ambition and a capacity for hard work.

If you want to train hard enough to go to the Olympics, then you're going to go out, and you're going to do it. It doesn't matter what skin color or who you are.