It is satisfying for the descendant of a dissident refugee from Elizabeth I to present his credentials to Elizabeth II.

The function of a briefing paper is to prevent the ambassador from saying something dreadfully indiscreet. I sometimes think its true object is to prevent the ambassador from saying anything at all.

Universities should be safe havens where ruthless examination of realities will not be distorted by the aim to please or inhibited by the risk of displeasure.

Maybe you are the "cool" generation. If coolness means a capacity to stay calm and use your head in the service of ends passionately believed in, then it has my admiration.

There is no lasting hope in violence, only temporary relief from hopelessness.

We all live in a televised goldfish bowl.

While the spoken word can travel faster, you can't take it home in your hand. Only the written word can be absorbed wholly at the convenience of the reader.

The presumption of innocence is not just a legal concept. In commonplace terms, it rests on that generosity of spirit which assumes the best, not the worst, of the stranger.

If I take refuge in ambiguity, I assure you that it's quite conscious.

You and I know that there is a correlation between the creative and the screwball. So we must suffer the screwball gladly.

The fullness or emptiness of life will be measured by the extent to which a man feels that he has an impact on the lives of others.

It is wrong to be dependent on the body-complex [pudgal]. One should depend only on the Soul.

If you are chronically down, it is a lifelong fight to keep from sinking

People have maybe, sometimes, said that I can, occasionally, be a teeny bit edgy and judgmental.

The novel is about, for me, sustained and organized looking. I do think that people have a hunger for a sustained engagement, that concentration that the book can offer.

I don't think there is anything more bitter in American politics than a close election.

I just try to be true to myself and look the way that I'm comfortable looking. Because if I'm comfortable with me, then you're going to be comfortable with me as well.

There may be some tough times here in America. But this country has gone through tough times before, and we're going to do it again.

Take the course opposite to custom and you will almost always do well.

I breathe in slowly. Food is life. I exhale, take another breath. Food is life.

The question is -- Who will get to heaven first; the man who talks or the man who acts?