If the research agenda reflects "market forces", the problems of the poor are likely to be even more neglected than they already are.

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.

It's interesting to see that people had so much clutter even thousands of years ago. The only way to get rid of it all was to bury it, and then some archaeologist went and dug it all up.

Those who indulge themselves in sense stimulation throughout their lives often end up exhausted, with an enfeebled will and little capacity to love others.

One can have a wit, but not a witless

Music has healing power. It has the ability to take people out of themselves for a few hours.

Nobody's going to hand you anything. You don't get what you don't go after.

Man wants but little, nor that little long; How soon must he resign his very dust, Which frugal nature lent him for an hour!

This is the beauty of social media: it helps you find people and then you can contact them fast and inexpensively.

Some folks can look so busy doing nothing that they seem indispensable.

I think illness is a family journey, no matter what the outcome. Everybody has to be allowed to process it and mourn and deal with it in their own way.

Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.