1. 'The world as revealed by science is far more beautiful, and far more interesting, than we had any right to expect. Science is valuable because of the view of the universe that it gives.''George Greenstein, Professor of Astronomy, Amherst College

2. ''Literature is the best way to overcome death. My father, as I said, is an actor. He's the happiest man on earth when he's performing, but when the show is over, he's sad and troubled. I wish he could live in the eternal present, because in the theater everything remains in memories and photographs. Literature, on the other hand, allows you to live in the present and to remain in the pantheon of the future. Literature is a way to say, I was here, this is what I thought, this is what I perceived. This is my signature, this is my name.''Ilan Stavans, Professor of Spanish, Amherst CollegeFrom "The Writer in Exile: an interview with Ilan Stavans" by Saideh Pakravan for the fall 1993 issue of The Literary Review

3. ''It seems to me incumbent upon this and other schools' graduates to recognize their responsibility to the public interest...unless the graduates of this college...are willing to put back into our society those talents, the broad sympathy, the understanding, the compassion...then obviously the presuppositions upon which our democracy are based are bound to be fallible.''John F. Kennedy, at the ground breaking for the Amherst College Frost Library, October 26, 1963

4. ''Stereotyped beliefs have the power to become self-fulfilling prophesies for behavior.''Elizabeth Aries, Professor of Psychology, Amherst CollegeFrom her book Men and Women in Interaction, Reconsidering the Differences

5. ''Difficulty need not foreshadow despair or defeat. Rather achievement can be all the more satisfying because of obstacles surmounted.''Attributed to William Hastie, Amherst Class of 1925, first African-American to serve as a judge for the United States Court of Appeals

5.Life is a journey and we all are travelers along our path. The path may not be neatly cemented and there may be a lot of disruptions in our way, but we have to go forward as there is no way back until the journey ends.God has created the world as a stage and there is no fun watching a stage drama unless there are no twists and turns in it. We face difficulties at every step in our lives, and giving up on anything just because it is intricate, is not the solution. I faced a complicated situation in my life when I had failed to qualify for the main round of a regional swimming competition. I was really depressed for not being able to qualify as I had worked very hard for this contest. However, God had other ideas for me and there was a wildcard slot for the grab as one of the contestants had withdrawn due to injury. I now had the opportunity to fulfill my wish and I was ready to give everything for it. I used to go for practice early in the morning and used to return late in the evenings, after going through hectic practice sessions. Although my family thought that I was unnecessarily

taking too much burden but I desperately wanted to compete in that contest. All my hard work paid off, when I was able to enter the contest by winning the wild card round. Now, I had one more obstacle standing in my way, which was to compete with one of the best swimmers which meant I had to put in twice the effort which I had previously put in. Finally, my big day arrived and to all the participants’ surprise, I finished third, winning the bronze medal. All the difficulties I faced preparing for this competition were worth facing. Had I qualified for the main round earlier, maybe I would not have worked so hard and ended up winning nothing. Therefore, the success I achieved after overcoming all the difficulties was more satisfying than any other thing. I think that is why Mr. Hastie taught us that we should not give up anything with the fear of defeat just because of its difficulty.