“The more degrees of freedom there are in practice, the wider the discussion and debate can be.”

“We can learn to pay attention, concentrate, devote ourselves to authors. We can slow down so we can hear the voice of texts, feel the movement of sentences, experience the pleasure of words--and own passages that speak to us. (p. 41)”

“Yet, standardization only leads to sameness, not necessarily quality, and rarely to excellence (p. 9).”

“Having a purebred human baby is like having a purebred dog; it's nothing but vanity, human vanity.”

“The inquisition of public opinion overwhelms in practice the freedom asserted by the laws in theory.”

“Freedom is hammered out on the anvil of discussion, dissent, and debate.”

“The conversation between your fingers and someone else’s skin. This is the most important discussion you can ever have.”