Scripture is not inerrant; believers are called to interpret biblical texts in light of tradition and reason.

We often talk too much & listen too little. The surer route to winning a friend isn't to convince them that you're right, but that you care what they think.

Our greatest leaders are neither dreamers nor dictators: They are, like Jefferson, those who articulate national aspirations yet master the mechanics of influence and know when to depart from dogma.

[T]o argue that something is so because it is in the Bible is more than intellectually bankrupt.

A lot of people, including business leaders, think the future belongs to China. Globalization is not a zero-sum game, but we need to hone our skills to stay in play.

Religious belief, like history itself, is a story that is always unfolding, always subject to inquiry and ripe for questioning. For without doubt there is no faith.

The Occupy Wall Street protests at last suggest that America's wealth gap is once again becoming an organizing political principle in the country.

Liberty is precious. But so is life. It should not be so difficult for men and women of good will and good heart and sound mind to find the right balance between the two.

In the fullness of time, I suspect that bigotry against homosexuals will seem as repugnant as racial prejudice does today. Or so one hopes.

No government can be maintained without the principle of fear as well as duty.

Jefferson was the rare leader who stood out from the crowd without intimidating it.

You can spread jelly on the peanut butter but you can't spread peanut butter on the jelly.

Happiness often sneaks through doors you didn't even know were open

Unless you bear with the faults of a friend you betray your own.

Failure too is a form of death.

I'm tired of playing little girls. I'm a woman now. I can't run around forever being the Little Miss Fix It who bursts into song. I want to get out of Hollywood and get a fresh approach.

I had lost too much of the heart and all the faith needed to stay afloat in a job where every human encounter felt like an anvil strung around my neck just when I thought I was nearing the shore.

I'm the one who didn't want to go into Iraq.

When the story of these times gets written, we want it to say that we did all we could, and it was more than anyone could have imagined.

You smell like crap so I know you don't like soap.

How can they beat me? I've been struck by lightning, had two back operations, and been divorced twice.