"It is not fair to accuse the Arabic language of being old-fashioned and static as if it were independent from what we mean and do, or unaffected by the outcome of our deeds. It is our language, and we are ultimately responsible for its static condition. It is our duty to restore it to its glory so that it can return to what it used to be hundreds of years ago – the language of science and literature, a language of building bridges to other civilizations, a language that affected others through its scientific and cultural achievements, pushing them to learn it."

"Through the lens of the Jock/Nerd Theory of History, the welfare state doesn’t look like a serious effort to "equalize outcomes." It looks more like a serious effort to block the "revenge of the nerds…"

"It is useless to tell the missionaries that Hindu sâdhanâ has nothing to do with buying a piece of land, building some stylised houses on it, exhibiting pretentious signboards, putting on a particular…"

"Van Gogh's work had hitherto been very dark, with scarcely any color, and he was at first bewildered by the rich coloring and the light which he discovered in the impressionist pictures. But when Piss…"

"One ground for suspicion of apparently sincere moral convictions is their link with some special interest of those who hold them. The questions cui bono and cui malo are appropriate questions to raise…"