Those who had alleged that a million civilians were dying from sanctions were willing, nay eager, to keep those same murderous sanctions if it meant preserving Saddam!

I have tried for much of my life to write as if I was composing my sentences to be read posthumously.

No one has the right to tell me what to do because he has a divine warrant.

At Oxford one was positively encouraged to take wine during tutorials. The tongue must be untied.

What I used to say to people, when I was much more engagé myself, is that you can't be apolitical. It will come and get you. It's not that you shouldn't be neutral. It's that you won't be able to stay neutral.

When you fall ill, people send you CDs. Very often, in my experience, these are by Leonard Cohen

Those of us who are most genuinely repelled by war and violence are also those who are most likely to decide that some things, after all, are worth fighting for.