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

Progress through trial and error depends not only on making trials, but on recognizing errors.

The impulse for personal adornment is hard to stamp out.

Abundant choice doesn't force us to look for the absolute best of everything. It allows us to find the extremes in those things we really care about, whether that means great coffee, jeans cut wide across the hips, or a spouse who shares your zeal for mountaineering, Zen meditation, and science fiction.

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.

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

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