It is a great honor for me to speak to you tonight on the subject of quasars. In the past twenty-five years, an enormous amount has been learned about these objects and the field has become very technical. I recognize that there are many people in the audience who are not professional astronomers and I hope not to disappoint them. At the same time my colleagues may recognize a few things that I touch upon. They will also hopefully forgive me for leaving out many attributions: many hundreds of astronomers have contributed to the field.