It is hard to cement any relations with any country based on promises that may not be deliverable.

Civility is not about dousing strongly held views. It's about making sure that people are willing to respect other perspectives.

There are words bandied about that are being misused - words like 'socialism,' words like 'communism,' words like 'fascism.

No activity I know is more of a confidence builder and at the same time more 'humility training' than wrestling.

Iraqis have held elections and have recently put together their government, all encouraging developments.

There's probably a little greater case for pessimism than optimism. But I do not rule out optimism.

A government of, by and for the people is obligated to conduct the nation's business in a manner that respects dissent.

The arts and humanities are vastly more important in troubled times.

History provides a sense of where we've been and lessons that can be taken forward.

The majority of U.S. high school students don't know within 50 years when the Civil War occurred.

America is very decentralized in how it supports the humanities, unlike European countries where virtually everything stems from the central government.

But then southern hemisphere teams are more skilful than their northern hemisphere counterparts, which means games can be easier to referee.

Our years, our debts, and our enemies are always more numerous than we imagine.

I think people tend to feel odd when I do my act. Unless you are an ironic person, it's not a good place for you to be.

I’m secretly hoping for the full five.

The hallmark of my books is the relationships that define women's lives.

Good results are sometimes owing to a failure of judgment, because the faculty of judgment often hinders us from undertaking many things which would succeed if carried through without thinking.

M. Zola is determined to show that, if he has not got genius, he can at least be dull.

There have been only rare moments in history where individual histories were able to run their course without wars or revolutions.

Many people go into the wilderness to experience it, and if they experience it in comfort, there's very little in a literary sense for them to write about.

If you can make a character likable that's not very nice, that's the challenge of the job.