"What a waste it is to lose one's mind. Or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is."
I think I finally figured this one out. VP Quayle was trying to repeat the United Negro College Fund slogan "A mind is a terrible thing to waste."
I met Marilyn Quayle, his wife, at a law enforcement seminar. She said Dan was actually an intelligent person who got tongue-tied at the most inopportune times. It appeared to me that Mrs Quayle was the power in their marriage and the reason Mr Quayle became Vice President.