"We need to internalize this idea of excellence. Not many folks spend a lot of time trying to be excellent."

"I opposed the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. It should be repealed and I will vote for its repeal on the Senate floor. I will also oppose any proposal to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban gays and lesbians from marrying."

"It is a humble truth that a life well-lived leaves an aroma of kindness long after the sun has set — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"Let thoughts come and go like clouds across an undisturbed autumn sky. In this truth lies the bedrock of all virtue."

"I am saddened by how people treat one another and how we are so shut off from one another and how we judge one another, when the truth is, we are all one connected thing. We are all from the same exact molecules."

"By measuring the proportion of children living with the same parents from birth and whether their parents report a good quality relationship we are driving home the message that social programmes should promote family stability and avert breakdown."

"It is a humble truth that justice is the harmonious balance between individual liberty and collective good."

"Confronted with the impossibility of remaining faithful to one's beliefs, and the equal impossibility of becoming free of them, one can be driven to the most inhuman excesses."