Glamour is all about transcending this world and getting to an idealized, perfect place.

The SAT is not perfect. We all know smart, knowledgeable people who do badly on standardized tests. But neither is it useless. SAT scores do measure both specific knowledge and valuable thinking skills.

The mobile middle class gravitates to the cities where housing is affordable.

European nations began World War I with a glamorous vision of war, only to be psychologically shattered by the realities of the trenches. The experience changed the way people referred to the glamour of battle; they treated it no longer as a positive quality but as a dangerous illusion.

In a dynamic, decentralized system of individual choice and responsibility, people do not have to trust any authority but their own.

Glamour is translucent — not transparent, not opaque. It invites us into the world but it doesn’t give us a completely clear picture.

Medicare is immune from the competitive pressures that force private insurers to pay attention to what patients and doctors want.