The trouble with traditional American conservatism is that it lacks a naturally cheerful, optimistic disposition. Not only does it lack one, it regards signs of one as evidence of unsoundness, irresponsibility.

A neoconservative is a liberal who's been mugged by reality. A neoliberal is a liberal who's been mugged by reality but has refused to press charges.

A conservative is a liberal mugged by reality.

An intellectual may be defined as a man who speaks with general authority about a subject on which he has no particular competence.

Being frustrated is disagreeable, but the real disasters of life begin when you get what you want.

People need religion. It's a vehicle for a moral tradition. A crucial role. Nothing can take its place.

No modern nation has ever constructed a foreign policy that was acceptable to its intellectuals