Wisdom lies not in possessing knowledge - which quickly becomes outdated - but in perpetually seeking it.

Nothing appeals to intellectuals more than the feeling that they represent 'the people'. Nothing, as a rule, is further from the truth

The Second World War took place not so much because no one won the First, but because the Versailles Treaty did not acknowledge this truth.

A deliberate plan is not always necessary for the highest art; it emerges.

Global warming, like Marxism, is a political theory of actions, demanding compliance with its rules.

The most socially subversive institution of our time is the one-parent family.

In the last generation, with public Christianity in headlong retreat, we have caught our first, distant view of a de-Christianized world , and it is not encouraging.

The most evil person I ever met was a toss-up between Pablo Picasso and the publisher-crook Robert Maxwell.

Euphemism is a human device to conceal the horrors of reality.

For me this is the vital litmus test: no intellectual society can flourish where a Jew feels even slightly uneasy.

To many, Heathrow in August is a paradigm of Hell.

We choose our next world through what we learn in this one. Learn nothing, and the next world is the same as this one, all the same limitations and lead weights to overcome.

One of the most terrifying things I fear is not my potential, but how much regret I’ll die with should I never use it.

You will have to defy the odds, for you to become extraordinary.

His eyes met mine. Brown eyes. I couldn’t read anything and as he turned away I realised he didn’t intend to tell me anything either.

Let me embrace thee, sour adversity, for wise men say it is the wisest course.

No office in the land is more important than that of being a citizen.

Heart and head are contrary historians.

What about the rest of your life?" She shrugged. "What about it?" "Aren't you worried about, like, forever?" "Forever is composed of nows," she says.

An idea that will translate really well musically should work visually. I try to write music that you can feel if you were to close your eyes you can see what I am talking about.

If we wait for the U.S. to do something, we will be waiting for a very long time. It's Europe, it's Australia, it's the other developed and middle developing countries that have got to do the job.