There's a financial cost, but the only costs that are ever real are the costs of our soldiers.

How do you keep war accountable to the American people when war becomes invisible and virtual?

Inequality is not just an issue between individuals, between classes, between regions. It's between urban and rural.

Patriotism is the secret resource of a successful society.

There are all kinds of different forms of public service, but there's no form of public service that can make more difference for more people than partisan political activity.

We can't afford to waste people. We can't afford to have people think the game is over before it's begun. We've got to be saying to the Canadian people: you can't tax cut your way to a productive 21st-century economy. You can talk that talk, but it's not going to give you a productive 21st-century economy, because it will scythe apart the public goods that make prosperity possible. That's what we've got to say, and so we shall.

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.