Cynicism and naivety lie cheek by jowl in the American imagination; if the United States is one of the most venal nations on Earth, it is also one of the most earnestly idealistic.

An enlightened trust in the sovereignty of human reason can be every bit as magical as the exploits of Merlin, and a faith in our capacity for limitless self-improvement just as much a wide-eyed superstition as a faith in leprechauns.

All communication involves faith; indeed, some linguisticians hold that the potential obstacles to acts of verbal understanding are so many and diverse that it is a minor miracle that they take place at all.

I say that virtue is really all about enjoying yourself, living fully; but of course it is far from obvious what living fully actually means.

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.

Language, identity and forms of life are the terms in which political demands are shaped and voiced.

Evil is often supposed to be without rhyme or reason.