No government is here forever. And there are other forces - the most potent force in our society, in fact, big business - doing good for the environment.

History as well as life itself is complicated -- neither life nor history is an enterprise for those who seek simplicity and consistency.

In contrast [to trees and fish], oil, metals, and coal are not renewable; they don't reproduce, sprout, or have sex to produce baby oil droplets or coal nuggets.

Civilization originates in conquest abroad and repression at home.

Put another way, the chimpanzees' closest relative is not the gorilla but humans.

Throughout history, adultery has had few rivals as a cause of murder and human misery. The reason we tend to resemble our mates is that many of us are looking for someone who reminds us of our parent or sibling of the opposite sex, who in turn resembles us.

Measles and TB evolved from diseases of our cattle, influenza from a disease of pigs, and smallpox possibly from a disease of camels. The Americas had very few native domesticated animal species from which humans could acquire such diseases.