There's no greater gift than thinking that you had some impact on the world, for the better.

There's a big gap between public opinion polls and the vote in Washington, in Congress. The majority consciousness has changed, and often that has made very clear, practical changes in our daily lives, but the centers of power are still not occupied, for the most part, by this new consciousness.

When the past dies, there is mourning, but when the future dies our imaginations are compelled to carry it on.

If men started taking care of children, the job will become more valuable.

No matter how hard I worked, whatever I accomplished was attributed to my looks. If you're working your ass off, then you don't want to be told that you only got whatever because of the way you look. It takes the heart out of you.

Law and justice are not always the same. When they aren't, destroying the law may be the first step toward changing it.

People are quite clear in viewing nuns as the servants and the teachers and the supporters of the poor. You contrast that with the fact that the Vatican did virtually nothing about long-known pedophiles, and it's just too much.