“Time rarely changed someone’s response to a critical issue”

“To understand an issue or someone’s argument about anything,one needs to understand the very nature of the issue, which is thefoundational question concerning anything.”

“and our few good times will be rare because we have the critical senseand are not easy to fool with laughter”

“[The Internet] affects democracy... As more and more citizens express what they think, and defend it in writing, that will change the way people understand public issues. It is easy to be wrong and misguided in your head. It is harder when the product of your mind can be criticized by others. Of course, it is a rare human who admits that he has been persuaded that he is wrong. But it is even rarer for a human to ignore when he has been proven wrong. The writing of ideas, arguments, and criticism improves democracy.”

“The critical issues here concern what is right, what is just -- not the balancing of benefits.”

“It’s easier to hang out with the patients in the indoor garden, with its sunlight and picnic tables. Easier to forget that someone’s ill when you’re not surrounded by the antiseptic reek of hospital-issue debris.”