Vincent Massey Quotes & Sayings

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

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. — Vincent Massey

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. — Vincent Massey

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? — Vincent Massey

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

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

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

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. — Vincent Massey

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

In fact, in the far North one sees the northern lights facing south! — Vincent Massey

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. — Vincent Massey

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

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

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

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