"The power of the American system of republicanism lies in its capacity to allow religious belief to be a competing, not a controlling, factor in American life."

"Given that religious faith is an intrinsic element of human experience, it is best to approach and engage the subject with a sense of history and a critical sensibility."

"The government invented the Internet."

"The bringing-about of order is the first and fundamental task of government. We accept limits on our rights for the sake of a larger social compact all the time."

"My dad was a homicide cop in the gay neighborhood in the city when gay neighborhoods were desperate, depressing, sad places run by the mob. The only gay people he'd met when I came out to him were corpses."

"It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance, more desolation. War is hell."

"My parents' divorce left me with a lot of sadness and pain and acting, and especially humour, was my way of dealing with all that."

"But there is a discomfort that surrounds grief. It makes even the most well-intentioned people unsure of what to say. And so many of the freshly bereaved end up feeling even more alone."