Man, by definition, is born a stranger: coming from nowhere, he is thrust into an alien world which existed before him-a world which didn't need him. And which will survive him.

My students are very special. They are my source of pride, my source of joy, my source of hope. I am terribly fond of my students.

The philosophers are wrong: it is not words that kill, it is silence.

This is the duty of our generation as we enter the twenty-first century - solidarity with the weak, the persecuted, the lonely, the sick, and those in despair. It is expressed by the desire to give a noble and humanizing meaning to a community in which all members will define themselves not by their own identity but by that of others.

Even if people tell me they have historical proof [that it is not historical], that doesn't really bother me.

Every nation has its prestigious military academies - or so few of them - that reach not only the virtues of peace but also the art of attaining it? I mean attaining and protecting it by means other than weapons, the tools of war. Why are we surprised whenever war recedes and yields to peace?

I have not lost faith in God. I have moments of anger and protest. Sometimes I've been closer to him for that reason.