Given the difficulty of resisting such temptations over the longer run, a proper concern for the welfare of congressional souls may well be the ultimate argument in favor of term limitations.

Under the circumstances, may I suggest another means of encouraging probity in elective office. I refer to term limitations, which can serve ends beyond that of saving congressional souls.

What distinguishes the campaign finance issue from just about every other one being debated these days is that the two sides do not divide along conventional liberal/ conservative lines.

What people fail to appreciate is that the currency of corruption in elective office is, not money, but votes.

If enough people openly engage in conduct once considered reprehensible, we rewrite the rule book and assume that God, as a good democrat, will go along.

The kind of corruption the media talk about, the kind the Supreme Court was concerned about, involves the putative sale of votes in exchange for campaign contributions.

This source of corruption, alas, is inherent in the democratic system itself, and it can only be controlled, if at all, by finding ways to encourage legislators to subordinate ambition to principle.

I had hoped that the current presidential campaign debates might educate the public as to what is really involved in the ongoing controversy over campaign financing.

In rendering its decision in our case, the Supreme Court equated money with speech because these days it takes the first to make yourself heard.

Rich men have dreams. Poor men die to make them come true.

Our life is a faint tracing on the surface of mystery, like the idle, curved tunnels of leaf miners on the face of a leaf

You are called not to be successful or to meet any of the other counterfeit standards of this world, but to be faithful and to be expended in the cause of serving the risen and returning Christ.

Comedy [deals] with a lot of the same areas where our defenses are the strongest - race, religion, politics, sexuality.

I always write and create. I'm never not creating. I'm always creating a show, every year, whether it gets picked up or not. I always sell a pilot or an idea. I like to be in control.

At sea let the British their neighbours defy — The French shall have frigates to traverse the sky.

What is sad is not to be able to do today what you have done in your youth. But what is good is to remember that - when you were able - you did it to the best of your ability.

The primary difference between rich people and poor people is how they handle fear

Yogi Bear was a real moment in my life. Post-Yogi Bear: don't drink as much. Pre-Yogi Bear: like to drink much.

Transformation, liberation and celebration are the themes of all my novels.