The fault lines are shifting from the boundaries of nations into the web of our societies and the streets of our cities. And, terrorism and extremism are a global force that are larger than their changing names, groups, territories and targets.

We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology.

The society in ‚The Handmaid’s Tale‘ is a throwback to the early Puritans whom I studied extensively at Harvard under Perry Miller, to whom the book is dedicated.

I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all the kinds of things you can’t see from the center.

I think America has always been polarized.

Is the Iranian record of intervention and terror worse than that of the U.S.?

As a global society, we do not have to agree, endorse or condone the lifestyle choices of others. However, history has taught us that we equally cannot and should not excuse those who would hide behind religion or misuse God’s word to justify bigotry and persecution.

Americans are rising to the tasks of history, and they expect the same of us.

In many ways, when you’re a Nobel peace laureate, you have an obligation to humankind, to society.

When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe.

In the late 1990s, some of the worst terrorist atrocities in the world were what the Turkish government itself called state terror, namely massive atrocities, 80 percent of the arms coming from the United States, millions of refugees, tens of thousands of people killed, hideous repression, that’s international terror, and we can go on and on.

In the West, we have been withdrawing from our tradition-, religion-, and even nation-centred cultures.

It’s very strange to go to cities like London and New York. People walk so quickly, they seem to be in a hurry all the time. And you don’t say ‚Hi‘ to everyone you meet, and you don’t smile to everyone you meet, because there’s just so many. Which is also very strange.

In the West, as well as some other parts of the world, the personal sense of ego tends to predominate, whereas in other areas, there is a more collective sense of ego. This collective ego emphasizes the ‚we‘ rather than the ‚I.‘

Governments are not representative. They have their own power, serving segments of the population that are dominant and rich.

Every nation in every region now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.

We have entered an age in which education is not just a luxury permitting some men an advantage over others. It has become a necessity without which a person is defenseless in this complex, industrialized society. We have truly entered the century of the educated man.

The march of science and technology does not imply growing intellectual complexity in the lives of most people. It often means the opposite.

Most nations, as well as people are impossible only in their youth; they become incorrigible as they grow older.

Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives. I think we’re being run by maniacs for maniacal ends and I think I’m liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That’s what’s insane about it.

You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.

There is only one ‚retirement plan‘ for terrorists.

You can’t get a contemporary story about what is going on inside government, and how society sees itself, on American TV.

Part of your heritage in this society is the opportunity to become financially independent.

To me, the black black woman is our essential mother, the blacker she is the more us she is and to see the hatred that is turned on her is enough to make me despair, almost entirely, of our future as a people.

Men must know their limitations.

Today different ethnic groups and different nations come together due to common sense.

Popular art is the dream of society; it does not examine itself.

There is a boundary to men’s passions when they act from feelings; but none when they are under the influence of imagination.

We can’t allow the world’s worst leaders to blackmail, threaten, hold freedom-loving nations hostage with the world’s worst weapons.

Prices are important not because money is considered paramount but because prices are a fast and effective conveyor of information through a vast society in which fragmented knowledge must be coordinated.

We all hoped in 2001 that we could put in place an Afghan government under President Karzai that would be able to control the country, make sure al-Qaeda didn’t come back, and make sure the Taliban wasn’t resurging. It didn’t work out.

I have something in common with Nazis in that I am opposed to the radical Left. And when you oppose the radical Left, you end up being a part of a much larger group that includes Nazis in it.

We should not look at terrorism from the nameplates – which group they belong to, what is their geographical location, who are the victims. These individual groups or names will keep changing.

The terrorist action of 9/11 gave birth to President Obama’s entry to the White House. Not directly, but indirectly.

I like working-class people, generally speaking.

I started out in anthropology, so to me how society works, how people put themselves together and make things work, has always been a big interest.

I truly believe that when the history books are written, our age will be remembered for three things: the war on terror, the digital revolution, and what we did – or did not do – to put the fire out in Africa. History, like God, is watching what we do.

Drones overall will be more impactful than I think people recognize, in positive ways to help society.

Upon the education of the people of this country the fate of this country depends.

Instead of noblemen, let us have noble villages of men.

What you’re seeing with Occupy Wall Street and the others are people who are unhappy and they’re directing their unhappiness now toward Wall Street and toward those they think are doing too well in our society.

Society can overlook murder, adultery or swindling; it never forgives preaching of a new gospel.

Our lifetime may be the last that will be lived out in a technological society.

Our modern society – especially in the West, and especially now – reveres youth.

It’s not proper for the government to intrude too thoroughly into the domain of the family. It’s inappropriate.

Our object in the construction of the state is the greatest happiness of the whole, and not that of any one class.

Our society is illuminated by the spiritual insights of the Hebrew prophets. America and Israel have a common love of human freedom, and they have a common faith in a democratic way of life.

Men have a respect for scholarship and learning greatly out of proportion to the use they commonly serve.

Sooner or later, jihadist-style terror and WMD are going to come together and the consequences could be horrendous.

Americans are apocalyptic by nature. The reason why is that we’ve always had so much, so we live in deadly fear that people are going to take it away from us.

There never was and is not likely soon to be a nation of philosophers, nor am I certain it is desirable that there should be.

If there were no bad people, there would be no good lawyers.

The eyes of others our prisons; their thoughts our cages.

We’re a diverse society, and I think the TV is doing a great job in showing that we’re all human beings, that we can all get along, that we can all be together, and I think that’s a marvelous thing.

We will stand up for our friends in the world. And one of the most important friends is the State of Israel. My administration will be steadfast in support Israel against terrorism and violence, and in seeking the peace for which all Israelis pray.

We are so conformist; nobody is thinking. We are all sucking up stuff; we have been trained to be consumers, and we are all consuming far too much.

I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them.

Although we resolutely supported the armed struggle against Batista’s tyranny, we were, on principle, opposed to any terrorist action that could cause the death of innocent people.

How terribly downright must be the utterances of storms and earthquakes to those accustomed to the soft hypocrisies of society.

Two days after the Boston marathon bombings, there was a drone strike in Yemen attacking a peaceful village, which killed a target who could very easily have been apprehended. But, of course, it is just easier to terrorise people. The drones are a terrorist weapon; they not only kill targets but also terrorise other people.