A point, like a joke, is a terrible thing to miss.

To what faults do you feel most indulgent? To the ones that arise from urgent material needs.

I'm afraid the SS's relationship with the Catholic Church is something the Church still has to deal with and does not deny.

Islam makes very large claims for itself. In its art, there is a prejudice against representing the human form at all. The prohibition on picturing the prophet - who was only another male mammal - is apparently absolute. So is the prohibition on pork or alcohol or, in some Muslim societies, music or dancing. Very well then, let a good Muslim abstain rigorously from all these. But if he claims the right to make me abstain as well, he offers the clearest possible warning and proof of an aggressive intent.

I felt Clinton represented the worst of the 1960s.

The beauty of science hugely outranks the charms of superstition.

If you want to stay in for the long haul, and lead a life that is free from illusions either propagated by you or embraced by you, then I suggest you learn to recognize and avoid the symptoms of the zealot and the person who knows he is right. For the dissenter, the skeptical mentality is at least as important as any armor of principle.