Bertrand Russell used to employ the method of "evidence against interest"; in other words of deciding that a critique of capital punishment, say, carried more weight if it came from a prison governor. (My friend John O'Sullivan puts it like this: If the pope says he believes in God, he's only doing his job; if he says he doesn't believe in God, he may be on to something.)

It is exactly the fear of revenge that motivates the deepest crimes, from the killing of the enemy's children lest they grow up to play their own part, to the erasure of the enemy's graveyards and holy places so that his hated name can be forgotten.

Distrust compassion; prefer dignity for yourself and others. Don't be afraid to be thought arrogant or selfish.

In the grip of a neurological disorder, I am fast losing control of words even as my relationship with the world has been reduced to them.

Religion is not just incongruent with morality, but in essential ways incompatible with it.

I retain what's interesting to me, but I don't have a lot of strategic depth.

I have quite a decent constitution in spite of all my abuse of it and my advanced years. I'm still quite robust.