Civility is not about dousing strongly held views. It's about making sure that people are willing to respect other perspectives.

I have a long-term interest in the humanities.

A government of, by and for the people is obligated to conduct the nation's business in a manner that respects dissent.

Civility is not simply about manners.

History provides a sense of where we've been and lessons that can be taken forward.

I am appalled by the notion of cultural wars.

If you read literature, you put yourself in somebody else's shoes. You learn from great figures in literature.

It is hard to cement any relations with any country based on promises that may not be deliverable.

Our culture is more shaped by the arts and humanities than it often is by politics.

Politics has high and low moments. Sometimes it brings out the better angels of our nature; sometimes baser instincts.

Public decision-making does not lend itself to certitude.

The arts and humanities are vastly more important in troubled times.

The hallmark of our times is change and acceleration, but we have to provide the history.

The majority of U.S. high school students don't know within 50 years when the Civil War occurred.

There are words bandied about that are being misused - words like 'socialism,' words like 'communism,' words like 'fascism.'

There's probably a little greater case for pessimism than optimism. But I do not rule out optimism.

America is very decentralized in how it supports the humanities, unlike European countries where virtually everything stems from the central government.

America somehow thinks that leadership relates to governance, and it certainly does. But society is much bigger than governance, and some of the truly great leadership of our society is outside the governance arena.

I think America is going to have to think through whether it wants to uplift the political dialogue or advance an approach that divides and, frankly, can lead to violence.