It's a good thing that we're protected by tenure and academic freedom, but we should realize that it creates a risk of getting cut off. Scholars should write, at least sometimes, for the general public.

The Greek tragedies and comedies are like a roadmap to all the ways in which trying to live this rich, full life can go wrong. You could get into a war. You could find that you have members of your family on the wrong side of a political crisis. You could be raped. You could find that your child has gone crazy because of some horrible experience she's had.

When a profession is protected by academic freedom and tenure, it tends to turn inward. To a large extent that's good.

Property rights can improve a woman's ability to stand up to violence in the home. You might think education and employment are important because they give women exit options, but property is as well. Give women equal property rights to inherited land, then they have an asset they can take out of the marriage. This gives husbands strong incentives to not beat them.

I think we need government to play a part in having a health policy that makes nursing care available for the increasing numbers who are going to need it.

I think the imagination helps us move out of the purely oppositional mentality and see the world in a richer and more variegated way.

You can’t really change the heart without telling a story.