"It's a form of human love to accept our complicated, messy humanity and not run away from it."
"To be a good human being is to have a kind of openness to the world, the ability to trust uncertain things beyond your own control that can lead you to be shattered."
"When we have emotions of fear and pity toward the hero of a tragedy, we explore aspects of our own vulnerability in a safe and pleasing setting."
"Among the good and decent men, some are unprepared for the surprises of life, and their good intentions run aground when confronted with issues like child care."
"Fear is ubiquitous in human life. It starts in infancy with our primal state of helplessness, where we can see what's going on but we can't move to get it. As we grow older we become a little more able to get what we want but then we're going to die so that gives fear another boost."
"It's always easier for people to face backward than to face forward."
"If you've been betrayed by a spouse or a partner, it's much easier to focus on causing that person pain than it is to turn forward and actually create a life that's worthy of you in the future."
"I listen to music. I particularly love Mozart."
"Men in particular think that they have achieved something if they can make a woman mad, particularly if she is calm and intellectual."
"Often, we feel helpless in lots of situations in our lives. The way anger gets a grip on us is it seems to be a way to extricate ourselves from helplessness."
"People - and I think this is particularly true of Americans - don't like to be passive. They like to seize control."
"I wouldn't express anything without being very thoughtful."
"My high school did not offer courses in philosophy, so the books that initially stimulated philosophical reflection in me were novels by Charles Dickens, Henry James, and Fyodor Dostoyevsky."
"As an undergraduate, I studied the Greek and Roman classics, and I went to graduate school in classics intending to work on the presentation of moral issues in various Greek and Roman tragedies."
"What all emotions have in common, and what distinguishes them from bodily appetites, is a focus on an object and a view of that object as salient for one's life."
"Teaching has always been a very important part of my life. It is one of the ways I contribute to society. It is also a source of energy and insight."
"Every time I undress in the locker room of my gym, I see women bearing the scars of liposuction, tummy tucks, breast implants."
"If people think that women only wear the burqa because of coercive pressure, let them create ample opportunities for them, at the same time enforce laws making primary and secondary education compulsory, and then see what women actually do."
"Clothing that covers the body can be comfortable or uncomfortable, depending on the fabric. In India I typically wear a full salwaar kameez of cotton, because it is superbly comfortable, and full covering keeps dust off one's limbs and at least diminishes the risk of skin cancer."
"It's easy to think that college classes are mainly about preparing you for a job. But remember: this may be the one time in your life when you have a chance to think about the whole of your life, not just your job."
"Courses in the humanities, in particular, often seem impractical, but they are vital, because they stretch your imagination and challenge your mind to become more responsive, more critical, bigger."
"I don't want to talk about the regulation of financial markets because that is not my sphere of expertise. It's a very complicated topic, and if I have written a number of books they are always on topics that I think I know something about."
"The U.S. has always understood itself to be united around political principles and not around culture, whereas the nations of Europe have a much more traditional conception of nationhood that is connected to romanticism, which thinks of religion and culture as ingredients of nationhood."
"It's always been intriguing to me, the loveability of mortality."
"We see unreasoning fear driving a certain amount of public policy, perhaps more in Europe than in the U.S."
