The trouble with censorship is that once it starts it is hard to stop. Just about every book contains something that someone objects to.

Taking life seriously requires taking death seriously.

I think it's realistic to have hope. One can be a perverse idealist and say the easiest thing: 'I despair. The world's no good.' That's a perverse idealist. It's practical to hope, because the hope is for us to survive as a human species. That's very realistic.

Hope never trickles down. It always springs up.

When you become part of something, in some way you count. It could be a march; it could be a rally, even a brief one. You're part of something, and you suddenly realize you count. To count is very important.

Ordinary people are capable of doing extraordinary things, and that's what it's all about. They must count.

We're born eventually to die, of course. But what happens between the time we're born and we die? We're born to live. One is a realist if one hopes.