Writers are greatly respected. The intelligent public is wonderfully patient with them, continues to read them, and endures disappointment after disappointment, waiting to hear from art what it does not hear from theology, philosophy, social theory, and what it cannot hear from pure science. Out of the struggle at the center has come an immense, painful longing for a broader, more flexible, fuller, more coherent, more comprehensive account of what we human beings are, who we are and what this life is for.

If women are expected to do the same work as men, we must teach them the same things.

One must bear in mind the odd angle or slant that the rays of love have to take in order to reach a heart like mine.

It's no disgrace to be a private, you know. Socrates was a plain foot soldier, a hoplite.

To tell the truth I never had it so good. But I lacked the strength of character to bear such joy.

Take our politicians: they're a bunch of yo-yos. The presidency is now a cross between a popularity contest and a high school debate, with an encyclopedia of cliches.

The only real distinction at this dangerous moment in human history and cosmic development has nothing to do with medals and ribbons. Not to fall asleep is distinguished. Everything else is mere popcorn.