"Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity."
-Charles Mingus

"Liberal democracies, not activists and international law, protect human rights... As technology and trade have advanced and spread, so has wealth and education, and with wealth and education has come political reform, and the expansion of civil and political rights."
-Eric Posner

The Principle of Maximum Diversity

"The principle of maximum diversity says that life evolves to make the universe as interesting as possible. A rain-forest contains a huge number of diverse species because specialization is cost-effective, just as Adam Smith observed in human societies. But I am impressed more by the visible examples of diversity in rain-forests and coral-reefs and human cultures than by any abstract philosophical principles."

"The tradition of Judeo-Christian religion is strongly coupled with philosophical optimism. Hope is high on the list of virtues. God did not put us here on earth to moan and groan."
-Freeman Dyson

"It is better to be making the news than taking it."
-Winston Churchill