No one has ever understood anything better by assuming that there is no reason for why it is the way it is.

Life is full of what-ifs, many of which could easily have been realities, had just a few things been different.

When you try to cool down hot emotions, what tends to happen is that you end up either repressing them or losing them altogether. Neither is desirable. Without emotion, much social interaction loses its meaning, or changes for the worse.

It may not have the virtuous ring of the golden rule, but the maxim "never say never" is one of the most important in ethics.

Being a good neighbour is about compassion, which is as warm-blooded as justice is cool-headed.

In the case of Donald Trump I think you've got to accept that a lot of what's going on in political discourse is based upon judgement. How the economy works - how people work - what will come to pass - what will not come to pass - what is possible - what is not possible. There is this whole modal dimension. There's a lot in politics that is making a judgement about what might be and can be and would be. Trump frightens a lot of people but there is a bizarre possible world in which it turns out as he's vindicated, though most of us think the evidence is against it.

You don't choose what you believe moment to moment, but choices you have made do shape what you come to believe.