If I take refuge in ambiguity, I assure you that it's quite conscious.

There is no greater challenge than to have someone relying upon you; no greater satisfaction than to vindicate his expectation.

It is satisfying for the descendant of a dissident refugee from Elizabeth I to present his credentials to Elizabeth II.

The presumption of innocence is not just a legal concept. In commonplace terms, it rests on that generosity of spirit which assumes the best, not the worst, of the stranger.

With all the mass media concentrated in a few hands, the ancient faith in the competition of ideas in the free market seems like a hollow echo of a much simpler day.

Perhaps the most fundamental value of a liberal education is that it makes life more interesting. It allows you to think things which do not occur to the less learned ... it makes it less likely that you will be bored with life.

Maybe you are the "cool" generation. If coolness means a capacity to stay calm and use your head in the service of ends passionately believed in, then it has my admiration.