With the passage of years, not all of Dicken's readers remained infatuated with his pathos. One generation's sublimity became another generation's kitsch.

Since God is silent, man is his own master; he must live in a disenchanted world, submit everything to criticism, and make his own way.

Every historian has informally an anthropology, without ever using the word.

To have a liberal temperament is a kind of psychological boon, To be able to understand that someone you disagree with is not just a terrible creature but somebody with whom you disagree.

My definition of modernism took a while to develop.

My assumption is that fundamentally the picture of the human animal, as developed by Freud, is largely right.

People seem to forget that one reason they are now thinking differently is Freud's legacy itself.

The ideas of theologians are refuted by their adversaries, the ideas of scientists are refuted by their followers.

And my interest in history was, and remains, very strong: what I wanted was to understand certain things better by understanding them psychoanalytically.

I have always had a strong interest in history and finding out about the past can be remarkably helpful with working out the future, too.

What interests me, and has always interested me, has been modernism.

The darkness of ignorance, blindfold us.

Like everyone, I want my soul to thrum. I run my long nails over the keys like I'm scratching the back of a lover.

Often people display a curious respect for a man drunk, rather like the respect of simple races for the insane... There is something awe-inspiring in one who has lost all inhibitions.

I have to be alone very often. I'd be quite happy if I spent from Saturday night until Monday morning alone in my apartment. That's how I refuel.

I like working with people. I believe change can only come through collaboration.

It is so much easier to extol the virtues of civility than to talk civilly about the virtues we need to uphold.

Acting is not pretending or lying. It's finding a side of yourself that's the character and ignoring your other sides. And there's a side of me that wonders what's wrong with being completely honest.

Pope is questioning my faith. I was very surprised to see it. But I am a Christian, and I'm proud of it.

To make it hard, to make it difficult almost impossible for people to cast a vote is not in keeping with the democratic process.

To isolate mathematics from the practical demands of the sciences is to invite the sterility of a cow shut away from the bulls.