To show compassion for an individual without showing concern for the structures of society that make him an object of compassion is to be sentimental rather than loving.

Human unity is not something we are called on to create — only something we are called on to recognize.

Socrates had it wrong; it is not the unexamined but finally the uncommitted life that is not worth living.

The woman most in need of liberation is the woman in every man and the man in every woman.

If your heart is full of fear, you won't seek truth; you'll seek security. If a heart is full of love, it will have a limbering effect on the mind.

Jesus is both a mirror to our humanity and a window to divinity, a window revealing as much of God as is given mortal eyes to see. When Christians see Christ empowering the weak, scorning the powerful, healing the wounded, and judging their tormentors, we are seeing transparently the power of God at work.

Hope is a state of mind independent of the state of the world. If your heart's full of hope, you can be persistent when you can't be optimistic. You can keep the faith despite the evidence, knowing that only in so doing has the evidence any chance of changing. So while I'm not optimistic, I'm always very hopeful.