The power of a book lies in its power to turn a solitary act into a shared vision. As long as we have books we are not alone.

The principal contributor to loneliness in this country is television. What happens is that the family 'gets together' alone.

I'm very shy really. I spend a lot of time in my room alone reading or writing or watching television.

Had the United States and the United Kingdom gone on alone to capture Baghdad under the provisions of the Geneva and Hague conventions we would have been considered occupying powers and therefore would have been responsible for all the costs of maintaining or restoring government education and other services for the people of Iraq.

In the age of television image becomes more important than substance.

In the modern media age we are rarely surprised by what we see. Whether it's on television or film or in the theatre everything is so advertised so trailed that most entertainment is merely what you thought it was going to be like.

I am hoping for peaceful transition into a new age. Obama has already played a great role in initiating us into that vision. If he were to be harmed in any way it would spawn the birth of a million Obamas.

We are approaching a new age of synthesis. Knowledge cannot be merely a degree or a skill... it demands a broader vision capabilities in critical thinking and logical deduction without which we cannot have constructive progress.

I hate to mention age but I come from an era when we weren't consumed by technology and television.

Every age needs men who will redeem the time by living with a vision of the things that are to be.