I was raised by a single mother and I've been in a 10-year relationship with my girlfriend. My whole life I've been surrounded by women.

Having been an educator for so many years I know that all a good teacher can do is set a context raise questions or enter into a kind of a dialogic relationship with their students.

No man deserves to be praised for his goodness who has it not in his power to be wicked. Goodness without that power is generally nothing more than sloth or an impotence of will.

Eulogy. Praise of a person who has either the advantages of wealth and power or the consideration to be dead.

Undeserved praise causes more pangs of conscience later than undeserved blame but probably only for this reason that our power of judgment are more completely exposed by being over praised than by being unjustly underestimated.

I take any opportunity I can to raise our country's flag really high and get some shining positive light on things over there.

Instead of yelling and spanking which don't work anyway I believe in finding creative ways to keep their attention - turning things into a game for instance. And when they do something good positive reinforcement and praise.

I think that giving mindless praise is ridiculous. But I understand why parents do it. They want their kids to feel good about themselves. But parents are never going to teach their children true positive self esteem by praising everything they do.

I was raised on the values of speaking up and making a positive difference in a very political family that believed in the importance of public service.

I was raised to speak out about politics and the world around me. I would do it whether I was in the public or not. It is the way I was taught. The American way.