My job is to look at what politics is doing, not be a politician myself.

I prefer insomnia to anaesthesia.

I vividly remember the stories my grandfather told me about the carnage of the First World War, which people tend to forget was one of the worst massacres in human history.

It's the job of intellectuals and writers to cast doubt on perfection.

I live quietly at home among my family and friends.

But democracy isn't a state of perfection. It has to be improved, and that means constant vigilance.

People with lots of doubts sometimes find life more oppressive and exhausting than others, but they're more energetic - they aren't robots.

But I don't think I have any particular talent for prediction, because when you have three or four elements in hand, you don't have to be a genius to reach certain conclusions.

There are some fundamental values it's impossible to be wrong about.

Eco sees the intellectual as an organizer of culture, someone who can run a magazine or a museum. An administrator, in fact. I think this is a melancholy situation for an intellectual.

Perfection spawns doctrines, dictators and totalitarian ideas.

Whatever you are pursuing don't stop, or you will forever be wondering how it would've turned out. Even if no one else believes, never give up on yourself.

Free will and choice implies that you are able to even re-write your record of memories.

It is through that brokenness that we find courage and strength. It is what empowers us to do great things.

Autumn arrived and life was in danger of becoming boring again.

I don't know what leadership is. You can't touch it. You can't feel it. It's not tangible. But I do know this: you recognize it when you see it.

Beauty is more important in computing than anywhere else in technology because software is so complicated. Beauty is the ultimate defense against complexity.

Yiddish for gall, nerve, arrogance-whatever

Mr. president, I've been a citizen of the United States of America for thirty three years and was never invited to the White House. It sure gives me pleasure to be invited to the Black House.

Freedom is based on truth, and no man is completely free as long as any part of his belief is based on error.

Life is lived on the inside. What's outside doesn't matter.