The logic of validation allows us to move between the two limits of dogmatism and skepticism.
There is a sort of gratification in doing good which makes us rejoice in ourselves.
Spirituality is meant to take us beyond our tribal identity into a domain of awareness that is more universal.
We did not domesticate wheat; wheat domesticated us.
We have real enemies, dedicated to dominating and eventually destroying us, and they are not going to be talked out of their hatred.
In order to preserve the dominion of our own passions, it behooves us to be constantly and strictly on our guard against the influence and infection of the passions of others.
Most of us working on poverty alleviation simply want to know, 'How much poverty can I reduce for every dollar I donate?'
I donate money to the existing foundation that funds the US Ski Team kids.
Food banks have told us of the increasing donations of, and demand for, tampons and pads which are gratefully received by women struggling to afford them.
We were happy with funding 'Rage' on our own nickel for years. We intended to do the same with 'Doom 4'. We had offers early on for 'Rage'. People offered us X million dollars. But we carried the risk, and when we finally signed a deal, it was X plus $10 million.
A unified theory would put us at the doorstep of a vast universe of things that we could finally explore with precision.
I think Star Trek has been very double-edged for all of us - as actors, writers, directors.
Herta Muller, Mo Yan, Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio - for many of us, the Nobels have become doubly educational: We simultaneously learn of an author's existence and find out that we ought to have been reading him or her all along.
There are books on our shelves we haven't read and doubtless never will, that each of us has probably put to one side in the belief that we will read them later on, perhaps even in another life.
It is one of the most beautiful facts in this human existence of ours, that we remember the earliest and freshest part of it most vividly. Doubtless it was meant that our childhood should live on in us forever.
Falling down is a very big subject, and so is the concept of downfall. None of us escapes, and I have had my share of both.
But in the past, US companies have been able to increase their profits through downsizing in the US, through colonizing other people's resources, and through the increase of globalization.
As New Zealanders, we've been in on the United Nations from the very beginning, played a role in the drafting of the charter - it means a lot to us that those processes are followed.
Many of us think that compassion drains us, but I promise you it is something that truly enlivens us.
In the case of my husband, we found that facing a life-threatening illness prodded us to make a dramatic change in our lives.
