"What a large volume of adventures may be grasped within this little span of life by him who interests his heart in everything."

Laurence Sterne, an 18th century author, penned this phrase in his novel A Sentimental Journey. Chester encountered this quote in David McCullough's 2003 Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities, The Course of Human Events. McCullough believes it is the best single-sentence description of the enlightenment outlook on life and learning -- the outlook of the founders of the Republic.