I take as my fundamental starting point the fundamental distinction between work and interaction

From a moral point of view, there is no excuse for terrorist acts, regardless of the motive or the situation under which they are carried out.

The only knowledge that can truly orient action is knowledge that frees itself from mere human interests and is based in Ideas - in other words knowledge that has taken a theoretical attitude.

Global terrorism is extreme both in its lack of realistic goals and in its cynical exploitation of the vulnerability of complex systems.

The task of universal pragmatics is to identify and reconstruct universal conditions of possible mutual understanding.

The speaker must choose a comprehensible expression so that speaker and hearer can understand one another.

Each murder is one too many.

Reaching and understanding is the process of bringing about an agreement on the presupposed basis of validity claims that are mutually recognized.

One never really knows who one's enemy is.

I shall develop the thesis that anyone acting communicatively must, in performing any speech act, raise universal validity claims and suppose that they can be vindicated.

Today's Islamic fundamentalism is also a cover for political motifs. We should not overlook the political motifs we encounter in forms of religious fanaticism

My words are my thesis, my actions are my dissertation, and my life is my philosophy.

When you're eight years old nothing is your business.

Sing your song. Dance your dance. Tell your tale.

When a man has a problem very thoroughly and can't solve it, he really has too few problems. He needs more.

It's very rewarding if I make a difference to a kid.

The only thing I've ever regretted is not writing more; not being more honest; not saying how it really is in Baghdad. It's hard to get there sometimes.

Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more.

It is tribute to how far we have come in theoretical physics that it now takes enormous machines and a great deal of money to perform experiments whose results we can not predict.

Hold on to your own ideal. . . . Above all, never attempt to guide or rule others, or, as the Yankees say, "boss" others. Be the servant of all.

It's good to find common ground with people. When you find common ground and you see things from other people's perspective, you can have a voice in their lives, you can have an influence.