Bill Moyers

"Philosophy examines what we take for granted."

"Literature preserves human experience."

"Politics determines how we live together."

"War devastates the human spirit."

"Motivation sustains us on our journey."

"Inspiration ignites our potential."

"Relationships are where life happens."

"Solitude renews the soul."

"A liberal education is at the heart of a civil society, and at the heart of a liberal education is the act of teaching."

"The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that very existence is an act of rebellion."

"Democracy only works when citizens are informed, engaged, and willing to participate in the messy business of self-governance."

"Without narrative, life falls apart. We are creatures of story."

"The truth is that life is delicious, horrible, charming, frightful, sweet, bitter, and that is everything."

"I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be honorable, to be compassionate. It is, after all, to matter."

"The most powerful thing we can do is tell stories that reveal the humanity in all of us."

"Journalism is about going into the world and reporting the facts as truthfully as possible."

"What we know matters less than what we do with what we know."

"The great tradition of public service requires us to see ourselves as part of something larger than our own ambitions."

"Anger is the enemy of nuance. It prevents us from seeing the full humanity of those with whom we disagree."

"We have become obsessed with accumulation and forgotten about meaning."

"The corporate takeover of the public airwaves is one of the great threats to democracy."

"Time is the scarcest resource. How we spend it reflects our deepest values."

"Faith is not certainty. It is a choice to believe in something larger than ourselves."

"The most important work we can do is the work of imagination—imagining a better world."

"Kindness is not weakness. It is the greatest strength we possess."

"Death reminds us that every moment is precious and finite."

"Power without accountability corrupts not just institutions but the soul."

"A nation that cannot imagine a better future is a nation in decline."

"The work of democracy is never finished. Each generation must reclaim it anew."

"What moves me is the story of the ordinary person rising to extraordinary occasions."