The reason prophets are so rarely honored in their own country is that their role is to transcend the limits of their contemporaries' experience and imagination. They achieve recognition only when their vision has been turned into experience - in short, when it is too late to benefit from their foresight.

I think Vladimir Putin will give up power.

University politics make me long for the simplicity of the Middle East.

If the six-nation forums dealing with Iran and North Korea suffer comparable failures, the consequence will be a world of unchecked proliferation, not controlled by either governing principles or functioning institutions. A modern, strong, peaceful Iran could become a pillar of stability and progress in the region. This cannot happen unless Iran's leaders decide whether they are representing a cause or a nation - whether their basic motivation is crusading or international cooperation. The goal of the diplomacy of the Six should be to oblige Iran to confront this choice.

John Paul II was one of the greatest men of the last century. Perhaps the greatest.

Whenever a new president comes in, people that are used to the previous president wonder if he has the same capacity.

Art is man's expression of his joy in labor.