We will never have a perfect world, but it's not romantic or naive to work toward a better one.

Many artists and scholars have pointed out that ultimately art depends on human nature.

Unfortunately, creative people are at their most creative when writing their autobiographies.

Today we take it for granted that war happens in smaller, poorer and more backward countries.

Theories of art carry the seeds of their own destruction.

If you aren't just brought up in your tribe but interact with other people either directly or vicariously, through journalism and literature, you see what life is like from other points of view and are less likely to demonize them or dehumanize others and more likely to empathize with them.

Tom Hanks, who starred in 'The Da Vinci Code,' turns out to be related to a number of the historic characters that feature in 'The Da Vinci Code,' including William the Conqueror and Shakespeare.