I hold to the idea that civility, understood as the willingness to engage in public discourse, is the first virtue of citizens.

Our desires are never wholly transparent, even to ourselves.

Dreams are evidence that we are creatures who produce more meaning than we can ourselves understand.

Tyranny is abhorrent, freedom benefits all, whereas violence benefits no one for long.

Ambition is ever tempered by experience. Otherwise, fortune makes fools of us all.

For every apparent gain, in short, we now observe a balancing danger. This is the world we have created.

Neiman's book is written with considerable flair, as many critics have already noted, but it possesses a far rarer and more valuable quality: moral seriousness. Her argument builds a powerful emotional force, a sense of deep inevitability. . . . It is not often that a work of such dark conclusions has felt so hopeful and brave.