Any writer who could handle all these different voices would deserve high praise, but to do so without any sense of jarring or incoherence is an extraordinary accomplishment.

It's a very bad idea for scientific conclusions to be accepted because they fit with the political values of a group of researchers.

I believe that the arts make indispensable contributions to our understanding.

I'm very suspicious of the idea of a "final theory" in natural science, and the thought of a complete system of ethical rules seems even more dubious.

Philosophers ought to aspire to know lots of different things and to forge useful synthetic perspectives.

It may be hyperbolic to declare that Shakespeare teaches us more about being human than all the natural scientists combined.

The "little theme" from Vinteuil, heard by Swann as emblematic of his love for Odette, remains a point of reference for him, as the character of that love changes and as the love eventually fades.

Science literacy consists in the ability and the desire to follow reports of new scientific advances, throughout your whole life.

The theory of evolution explains to us what our ancestry has been. It does not explain away our worth. Why should we be afraid to learn more about what we are?

In ethics, we don't make progress by discovering pre-existent truths; we do so by solving problems.

The point of philosophy, as I see it, is to change thinking, and thereby to change the conversation.

After the knowledge of, and obedience to, the will of God, the next aim must be to know something of His wisdom, power and goodness as evidenced by His handiwork.

My biggest mistake is in believing there are limits to how bad it can get.

The Westwood Cemetery is just a few blocks from my home, and a number of my very dear friends are buried there.

Financiers are great mythomaniacs, their explanations and superstitions are those of primitive men; the world is a jungle to them.They perceive acutely that they are at the dawn of economic history.

What gives it its human character is that the individual through language addresses himself in the role of the others in the group and thus becomes aware of them in his own conduct.

Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.

Physical limitedness can only be surpassed by mental unlimitedness!

It shouldn't make you sad to know you're loved, Grayson." But it did. It made him sad, and panicked, and for just a moment, wishful.

You've given up your whole life to be the person you are now. Is it worth it?

I was a Ukrainian folk dancer in my teens, and I toured the country in 1991, shortly before the break-up of the Soviet Union.