As a student of a Catholic high school, the Sisters of Loretta taught me, I am pleased to be at an institution of higher education with such strong and celebrated Catholic and Jesuit traditions . . . You see, I got my Master's Degree at Notre Dame. (Boos.) I acquired a passion for the fighting Irish . . . and my family has been college educated and Presbyterian ever since. (Laughter and applause.) . . . I wandered into a course on international politics taught by a Czech refugee who specialized in Soviet studies, a man who had a daughter by the name of Madeleine Albright. With that one class, I was hooked. I discovered that my passion was Russia and all things Russian.
This has been going on for a long time. Lin Yutang in Between Tears and Laughter, Doubleday, 1940, has a wonderful explanation for the phenomenon. The people never lose sight of first principles. The politicians and diplomats consistently do, because they are preoccupied with minutiae and ways and means. I’m just summarizing from memory. Couldn’t hope to recreate Lin’s matchless way of saying it. Read and enjoy.