I asked the list last week for help in identifying when and where Henry Kissinger said the following: "Academic politics are vicious precisely because the stakes so small." Here are the responses I received:
>From John Hagemann - I have it attributed to him as "Academic politics are so bitter because the stakes are so small" by Martin Peretz in the New Republic, 10/4/82, at 47.
NOTE: We found The New Republic issue and the quote is part of an article titled "Cambridge Diarist" on page 42. It doesn't
provide any citation information for when or where (or whether) Kissinger said it.
>From Fred Shapiro - He did not definitely say it, although it is often attributed to him. I checked with a friend of mine on the staff
of the Yale Dictionary of Quotations, and this is what they have as a source for this: "In any dispute the intensity of
feeling is inversely proportional to the value of the stakes at issue -- that is why academic politics are so bitter."
Wallace S. Sayre, quoted in Charles Issawi, "Issawi's Laws of Social Motion" (1973)
>From Susan Duede - This quote is all over the Internet attributed to Henry Kissinger. The quote is even used by professors at
major universities as a Kissinger quote. The book, "The 2,548 Best Things Anybody Ever Said" (edited by Robert
Byrne and published by Simon & Schuster in 2003) includes this quote. However, unlike the other quotes which say
when and where the quote was said, this one only says, "As recalled by Arlene Heath."
Thanks to all who responded.
BARBARA J. DAVIS
Manager Library Services
Taft, Stettinius & Hollister LLP
425 Walnut Street Suite 1800
Cincinnati, OH 45202
Phone: 513-357-9403
E-Mail: davisb@taftlaw.com
Web: http://www.taftlaw.com
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