Dad was also a deeply, unabashedly religious man... , But he never made the fatal mistake of so many politicians - wearing his faith on his sleeve to gain political advantage.

Religion may indeed inspire acts of great kindness and courage. But it also trains people to believe things for which there is no evidence. This makes religion's intrusion into the political sphere all the more troubling.

You cannot be against embryonic stem cell research and be intellectually and therefore morally consistent, if you're not also against in vitro fertilization.

I admire the fact that the central core of Buddhist teaching involves mindfulness and loving kindness and compassion.

I've never joined any political party and have no plans to do so. I'm fully independent.

Neither of my parents would ever stand in the way of any of their children speaking their minds.

We can choose between the future and the past, between reason and ignorance, between true compassion and mere ideology.