Maybe that is the greatest of wonders: that we can be shaped so much by those we've known closely, and equally by those we've never known at all - and that we too can change the world long after we've left it.

Victory [over homophobia] may require five or maybe 20 years. Yet I have no doubt that "don't ask, don't tell" and same-sex adoption bans will be as unspeakable and inexplicable to my grandchildren as counting a slave as three-fifths of a human being.

If freedom means anything at all, it is the right to primacy in regard to sexuality, reproduction, medical care and death.

Always warm up the audience with a joke....If you are not a particularly funny person, make sure that you inform them that it's a joke.

Catholic extremism should be resisted as fiercely at home as we oppose the Taliban abroad.

Much as constitutional guarantees of press freedom do little good for prospective publishers if they do not have access to paper or ink, the right to aid in dying is strikingly useless if nobody is willing to help.

I can handle being married for my money; it's being married for my life insurance that gives me pause.