I've heard people in the Middle East tell me that the most inspiring thing for them as people struggling against dictatorship in the Middle East is the memory of the civil rights movement.

I hope Barack Obama puts another woman on the Supreme Court. And this time, I hope it's a woman with kids.

The top line is that hubris is a disease that comes from success.

Foreign policy is a little bit like a guy who goes to Las Vegas. If you win too much, then you eventually bet the mortgage. You start to think you are infallible.

I think the most inspiring thing that Americans can do for the rest of the world is struggle against the evils in our own society.

Our sense of optimism, our can-do spirit, that's a source of great strength in America. But when there are no limits at all and we've gone through whole periods where we think everything has gone right, that's when disaster tends to strike.

There are real threats but there's a difference between recognizing real threats and an irrational kind of apocalyptic threat.