The world is out there, but descriptions of the world are not.

Always strive to excel, but only on weekends.

The usual picture of Socrates is of an ugly little plebeian who inspired a handsome young nobleman to write long dialogues on large topics.

Truth is a property of sentences, since sentences are dependent for their existence upon vocabularies, and since vocabularies are made by human beings, so are truths.

"True" resembles... a compliment paid to sentences that seem to be paying their way and that fit in with other sentences which are doing so.

The most important advance that the West has yet made is to develop a secularist moral tradition

A talent for speaking differently, rather than for arguing well is the chief instrument of cultural change.

What counts as rational argumentation is as historically determined and as context-dependent, as what counts as good French.

All human relations untouched by love take place in the dark

At 12, I knew that the point of being human was to spend one's life fighting social injustice.

National pride is to countries what self-respect is to individuals: a necessary condition for self-improvement.

We can't make up for lost time, but we can make room to share space.

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.

I like to dress up but I'm not so concerned with looking very sexy, it's really more the art of dressing.

You do anything long enough to escape the habit of living until the escape becomes the habit.

Wouldn't it be much worse if life really were fair and all the terrible things that happen to us happen because we really deserve them?

The cry for love and communion and for recognition that rises from the hearts of people in need reveals the fountain of love in us and our capacity to give life.

Force does not constitute right... obedience is due only to legitimate powers.

The further off from England the nearer is to France- Then turn not pale, beloved snail, but come and join the dance.

...Environmental groups are too often alarmists. They have an awful track record, so they've lost credibility with the public.

I had wanted to write Ghost Country for a long time, but it wouldn't work.