I like what Abba Eban once said during the 1967 war. He said, "When all else fails, men turn to reason."

True character arises from a deeper well than religion.

It was inspiring to learn of the new Bachelor of Environmental Studies Program, and I congratulate you for it. Singapore is geographically in the right central position for an influence in Asia and Australia, and NUS has the reputation and academic strength to make it effective.

People need a sacred narrative. They must have a sense of larger purpose, in one form or another, however intellectualized. They will find a way to keep ancestral spirits alive.

Biophilia, if it exists, and I believe it exists, is the innately emotional affiliation of human beings to other living organisms.

It's always been a great survival value for people to believe they belong to a superior tribe. That's just in human relationships.

Today [the voice of women] is being heard loud and clear. But I do not read the welcome triumph of feminism, social, economic, and creative, as a brief for postmodernism. The advance, while opening new avenues of expression and liberating deep pools of talent, has not exploded human nature into little pieces. Instead, it has set the stage for a fuller exploration of the universal traits that unite humanity.