My father was a small-town banker. He became very ill when I was 10 years old, and we went to California three years later in an attempt to recover his health, which never happened.

My clerkship with Justice Douglas was tremendously important. He told me, Christopher, get out into the stream of history and see what happens. I've tried to follow that advice.

It's very important to always put things in their historical contexts. It teaches important lessons about the country in question.

One always wonders about roads not taken.

The Palestinian election is something that was really a turning point. It's a mandate for peace.

Only two countries in this hemisphere are not democratic, but many countries in both Central and South America, and in the Caribbean, are really fragile democracies.

When I was a very young lawyer, I had a senior partner who advised me never to get mad, except on purpose.