To support the people we care about is intrinsic, it is not instrumental. It's not something we do because we're hoping to get some other outcome.

Adults often assume that most learning is the result of teaching and that exploratory, spontaneous learning is unusual. But actually, spontaneous learning is more fundamental.

Animals are certainly more sophisticated than we used to think. And we shouldn't lump together animals as a group. Crows and chimps and dogs are all highly intelligent in very different ways.

Caring, whether for children or the dying, shouldn't be instrumental. It should be an intrinsic, moral good.

What's it like to be a baby? It's like being in love in Paris for the first time after you've had three double espressos.

Some people say that parents don't matter, and that's not true at all. The irony is that we pay attention to all these things that don't matter, and not to what does matter, such as parents having enough resources to provide an environment where their children have both security and freedom.

What teenagers want most of all are social rewards, especially the respect of their peers.