When I arrived at Harvard, I wanted to design a course in political theory that would have interested me, back when I was started out, in a way that the standard things didn't.

The way things are does not determine the way they ought to be

Self-knowledge is like lost innocence; however unsettling you find it, it can never be 'unthought' or 'unknown'.

The simplest way of understanding justice is giving people what they deserve. This idea goes back to Aristotle. The real difficulty begins with figuring out who deserves what and why.

Democracy does not require perfect equality, but it does require that citizens share in a common life.

To argue about justice is unavoidably to argue about virtues, about substantive moral and even spiritual questions.

Whether you're a libertarian liberal or a more egalitarian liberal, the idea is that justice means being non-judgmental with respect to the preferences people bring to public life.

I think too often in our society parents, who may have good impulses, overreach and try to mold and shape and direct their child.

Aiming at giving our kids a competitive edge in a consumer society - that, in principle, is a goal that is limitless.

You can't go wrong with fish and chips.

What intrigued me most was not the technology as such but the questions about the human goods, the fundamental human values and virtues that are raised by debates over biotechnology.

No man can ever admire a woman the way she admires herself.

A critic must be knowledgeable in several fields, practices, and mediums. Brushing off art that they personally don't understand, is not a critique.

I was lucky enough to have been born on this planet earth, in this admirable country of the United States of America.

When we discover that the truth is already in us, we are all at once our original selves.

You need to act your age and not your girl's age

For love is immortality.

One of my Miss America judges called me a "God-clutcher" way back when because I spoke about my faith being an important part of my life during my interview.

What's happened has happened, so what can we do to make it better for tomorrow and the day after? That's why we're here

A friend of mine told me, you know your obsession with girls who talk like sexy babies? You have to put that into your script.

Give me the third best technology. The second best won't be ready in time. The best will never be ready.