From the viewpoint of political power, culture is absolutely vital. So vital, indeed, that power cannot operate without it. It is culture, in the sense of the everyday habits and beliefs of a people, which beds power down, makes it appear natural and inevitable, turns it into spontaneous reflex and response.

Rousseau ranks among the great educational theorists of the modern era, even if he was the last man to put in charge of a classroom. Young adults, he thought, should be allowed to develop their capabilities in their distinctive way.

If it is true that we need a degree of certainty to get by, it is also true that too much of the stuff can be lethal.

What's wrong with a bit of nostalgia between friends? I think nostalgia sometimes gets too much of a bad press.

I value my Catholic background very much. It taught me not to be afraid of rigorous thought, for one thing.

The most common mistake students of literature make is to go straight for what the poem or novel says, setting aside the way that it says it. To read like this is to set aside the ‘literariness’ of the work – the fact that it is a poem or play or novel, rather than an account of the incidence of soil erosion in Nebraska.

Anyone can be tolerant of those who are tolerant.