The idea - the core idea of humanism - is that the act of reading about great deeds will lead you to imitate them.

The purpose of a good education is to show you that there are three sides to a two-sided story.

I should have known better. Pro-life arguments are now based on scientific evidence and the pro-choice arguments are not. That is a cultural, historical fact.

Language is not a handmaiden to perception; it is perception; it gives shape to what would otherwise be inert and dead.

The first thing to ask when writing a sentence is 'What am I trying to do?'

Any idea can be brought into the classroom if the point is to inquire into its structure, history, influence and so forth. But no idea belongs in the classroom if the point of introducing it is to recruit your students for the political agenda it may be thought to imply.

I do not support abortion rights. Although what I would support in this vexed area is not clear to me.