A peach is not its fuzz, a toad is not its warts, a person is not his or her crankiness. If we can make distinctions, we can be tolerant, and we can get to the heart of our problems instead of wrestling endlessly with their gross exteriors.

Alan Alda (b. 1936) American actor [b. Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo]

Commencement Speech, Connecticut College (1980)

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