I am not a specialist but a general practitioner in the world of the arts.

No heirloom of humankind captures the past as do art and language.

Epistemology is the study of knowledge. By what conduit do we know what we know?

I am determined to give the Yiddish language a fighting chance to survive.

I have always striven to raise the voice of hope for a world where hate gives way to respect and oppression to liberation.

By showing hunger, deprivation, starvation and brutality, as well as endurance and nobility, documentaries inform, prod our memories, even stir us to action. Such films do battle for our very soul.

I prefer to make common cause with those whose weapons are guitars, banjos, fiddles and words.

All too often arrogance accompanies strength, and we must never assume that justice is on the side of the strong. The use of power must always be accompanied by moral choice.

But there is a difference here: When Jewish children are murdered, Arabs celebrate the deed. The death of an Arab child is no cause for celebration in Israel.

No doubt unity is something to be desired, to be striven for, but it cannot be willed into being by mere declarations.

After the advent of the written word, the masses who could not - or were not permitted to - read, were given sermons by the few who could.

But Calvin is no kind and loving god! He's one of the old gods! He demands sacrifice!

We're all living contradictions, trying to survive in a world filled with hypocrites

Anybody can be nobody; but it takes a man to be somebody.

Meditation is the pathway to enlightenment. Move the ego aside and be still, open, clear, bright and fully conscious.

If it squirms, it's biology; if it stinks, it's chemistry; if it doesn't work, it's physics; and if you can't understand it, it's mathematics.

I thought Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything was remarkable. Managing to be entertaining while still delivering all that hard science was a pretty good trick to pull off.

The head raised too high even in good will be struck off too soon.

In my hood, I was always with the older guys, but I like everybody's music.

I used to dream, and I used to vow; I wouldn't dream of it now.

Happiness and sorrow are twins, let them come and go like clouds.