On envy: "Pour vivre heureux il faut vivre cacher!"
"Envy is an extraordinarily potent and destructive force. If you want to destroy a relationship or organization, inject envy."
"Once you look at others to find out how well you are doing, envy becomes a cancer in your brain; it will grow to destroy you. It is a recipe for unhappiness and disaster."
"Envy is nasty stuff. Really, really nasty." (Ed. - are you noticing a theme here?)
"I'm not going to talk about George W.; too insignificant to warrant airtime."
"'Transparency is good.' If you believe such general, broad statements, you are naïve. You have fallen victim to fashionable ideas. You should read Dostoyevsky's Demons."
"I don't think Gorbachev was naïve - you don't get to be secretary-general of the Communist Party without knowing a few things about coalitions..."
"What were the names of the characters in the Three-way Negotiation? Rameau, Franck, Charpentier. Ring any bells?" (a long silence in the amphi) "You have just confirmed to me that you are a bunch of uncultured barbarians. They are French composers."
A short postscript: Lucky does get a great thrill out of learning for learning's sake. That said, there is nothing better than taking up a professor's public challenge:
This response earned a one-eyebrow-raised golf clap from the rest of the class, who were apparently impressed that someone had actually done the assigned reading.
