Jean Taylor Kroeber, widow of Karl Kroeber, has granted permission for "SAIL" to reprint his "Address to Columbia College Students Elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Society, 18 May 2009" and "An Interview with Karl Kroeber." Conducted by Michael Mallick, the interview was published in the newsletter of the Department of English and Comparative Literature, Columbia University (Fall 2009). Jean Kroeber feels that the two selections "together pretty much said what he needed to say." Both were included in the commemorative booklet distributed at the memorial for Kroeber, held at Columbia University on April 8, 2010. They present an overview of Kroeber's fervent dedication to teaching and scholarship as well as his perceptive responses to the political and educational changes in his lifetime. The quotation in the title of this introduction are Kroeber's final words in "Address to Columbia College Students." In this article, the author profiles Karl Kroeber and looks back at his career from 1926 to 2009. (Contains 2 notes.)