This is Democratic bedrock: we don't let people lie in the ditch and drive past and pretend not to see them dying. Here on the frozen tundra of Minnesota, if your neighbor's car won't start, you put on your parka and get the jumper cables out and deliver the Sacred Spark that starts their car. Everybody knows this. The logical extension of this spirit is social welfare and the myriad government programs with long dry names all very uninteresting to you until you suddenly need one.

I don't want them to be told to remember me.

When the country goes temporarily to the dogs, cats must learn to be circumspect, walk on fences, sleep in trees, and have faith that all this woofing is not the last word.

Being rich and thin isn't everything.

Even in a time of elephantine vanity and greed, one never has to look far to see the campfires of gentle people.

Jesus said the meek would inherit the earth, but so far all we've gotten is Minnesota and North Dakota.

It's confidence; it has to be something good about getting old. One of the things is that you just don't stress about some stuff that made you so worried.