Scar Tissue is the only book Ive ever written when Ive felt completely toxic, ill.

In academic life, false ideas are merely false and useless ones can be fun to play with. In political life, false ideas can ruin the lives of millions and useless ones can waste precious resources. An intellectual's responsibility for his ideas is to follow their consequences wherever they may lead. A politician's responsibility is to master those consequences and prevent them from doing harm. Michael Ignatieff, a former professor at Harvard and contributing writer for the magazine, is a member of Canada's Parliament and deputy leader of the Liberal Party.

...our species is one, and each of the individuals who compose it are entitled to equal moral consideration.

Political utopias are a form of nostalgia for an imagined past projected onto the future as a wish.

All war aims for impunity.

I teach students that what people say about failure in politics is mostly wrong. People always told me, 'They'll praise you on your way up and kick you on your way down.' That wasn't my experience. I can't walk down the street in Toronto without someone coming up and saying hello.

I distinguish, between nationalism and patriotism.