The West has given us the liberal miracle of individual rights, individual responsibility, merit, and human satisfaction.

In the West we are free to think what we want, to read what we want, to practice our religion, to live as we choose. Liberty is codified in human rights, a magnificent Western creation but also, I believe, a universal good.

Not only is the West so successful economically, but it leads the world scientifically, and culturally.

I wish more people would belabor the obvious, and more often.

Each time you admire the façade of the New York Public Library, you are paying homage to Western civilization.

We are free, in the West, to choose; we have real choice to pursue our own desires; we are free to set the goals and contents of our own lives; the West is made up of individuals who are free to decide what meaning to give to their lives-in short the glory of the West is that life is an open book,[1] while under Islam, life is a closed book, everything has been decided for you: God and the Holy Law set limits on the possible agenda of your life.

By working and living in New York, you are breathing Western civilization, continuously reminded of its benefits and its values.