I can’t be a pessimist because I am alive. To be a pessimist means that you have agreed that human life is an academic matter. So, I am forced to be an optimist. I am forced to believe that we can survive, whatever we must survive. – James Baldwin
Simplicity, for reasons that are a little bit obscure, is almost not pursued, at least in the academic world. – George M. Whitesides
It’s too much to expect in an academic setting that we should all agree, but it is not too much to expect discipline and unvarying civility. – John Howard
I still feel threatened by academics, but my books have a lot of academic in-jokes and everybody assumes I went to university and studied English. – Jasper Fforde
States are free to modify the Common Core State Standards or adopt their own individual standards, because academic standards are the prerogative of the states. – Jeb Bush
My academic identity is that of a folklorist, and for many years I have taught only folklore courses. – Alan Dundes
All too often, academic departments defend their territory with the passion of cornered animals, though with far less justification. – Bruce Jackson
Becoming a model was very counter-culture for my background, which is hyper-liberal, academic and feminist. – Cameron Russell
I was quite academic, quite geeky when I was a kid. I was more interested in going to school than I was in becoming a film star or something. – Bel Powley
I enjoyed school, I was a bit of a square. I did very well in exams. I was quite lucky I was academic. – Cat Deeley
I am not an academic who happens to have written a novel. I am a novelist who happens to be quite good academically. – A. S. Byatt
Rand Paul comes off like an academic stiff who wants to give us a lecture on American civics. – Mark McKinnon
No day passes without a Democratic politician, a left-wing commentator, or, if I may be excused a redundancy, a left-wing academic labeling Republicans and conservatives racist. – Dennis Prager
I wasn’t an academic. I hated maths and science at school. I couldn’t concentrate. – Michelle Dockery
I am not a pure fiction writer, nor am I an academic writer. Somehow I ended up in this blended area of literary journalism. – George Packer
I’ve always been more inclined to go out to work than carry on with academic studies. – Michael Fassbender
