Everybody wants to right the world; nobody wants to help his neighbor.—Henry Miller

As I say, one needs either a heaven or a hell in which to flourish—until one arrives at that Paradise of his own creation, that middle realm which is not a bread-and-butter Utopia of which the masses dream but an interstellar realm in which one rolls along his orbit with sublime indifference. —Henry Miller

I want to tell you the Jewish people have a long memory, so we remember the proclamation of the great Cyrus the Great, Persian king, 2500 years ago, he proclaimed that the Jewish exile in Babylon could come back and build our temples in Jerusalem.—Benjamin Netanyahu to Donald Trump

With many experts speculating that the unrest in Iran is far from over, the day may not be far off when the Iranian people can seek justice for the crimes committed against them. By helping those people to retain access to the internet and social media, and by weakening the system’s repressive institutions through diplomatic démarches and other appropriate measures, the international community can help to protect the victims...—Juan E. Garcés, chief lawyer in Spanish legal case against Gen. Augusto Pinochet

When the people of Iran rose up against the crimes of their corrupt dictatorship, I did not stay silent. America stands with the people of Iran in their courageous struggle for freedom. I am asking Congress to address the fundamental flaws in the terrible Iran nuclear deal.—President Trump

If the [US] Constitution stands for anything, the plaintiffs argue in their suit, which was filed on their behalf by the Center for Constitutional Rights, it must stand for the proposition that the government cannot detain someone for 16 years without charge.—New York Times editorial

Future scholars will sift through Trump’s digital proclamations the way we now read the chroniclers of Nero’s Rome—to understand how an unhinged emperor can make a mockery of republican institutions, undo the collective nervous system of a country, and degrade the whole of public life.—David Remnick, Editor, The New Yorker

For the past few months, if not years, Iran has been viewed as ascendant. They’ve been, quote, winning in the Middle East. And now we find out Iranians don’t approve of their government spending all this money in places like Lebanon and Syria.—Mohamad Bazzi, NYU journalism professor

The ignorant mind, with its infinite afflictions, passions, and evils, is rooted in the three poisons. Greed, anger, and delusion. —Bodhidharma

Terrorism existed prior to 9/11 and will continue to be a global scourge. Policies aimed at addressing the terrorist threat should be commensurate with that threat and not be confused with counterinsurgency. This is an important first step to achieving a measured and balanced response to terror – not one that exaggerates the threat.—Sean M. Zeigler, RAND Corporation