People who assure you that you can only gain security at the price of liberty usually want to deny you both.

Nastier rulers will use what they know about you to push you around. Scrub your computer of malware on a regular basis. Remember that email is skywriting. Consider using alternative forms of the internet, or simply using it less.

When we take an active interest in matters of doubtful relevance at moments that are chosen by tyrants, oligarghs and spooks, we participate in the demolition of our own political order.

You might not be sure, today or tomorrow, who feels threatened in the United States. But if you affirm everyone, you can be sure that certain people will feel better.

When we learn of one scandal, it whets our appetite for the next.

IT IS GRATIFYING to know that, whatever the course of events, you are helping others to do good.

For us, the lesson is that our natural fear and grief must not enable the destruction of our institutions. Courage does not mean not fearing, or not grieving. It does mean recognizing and resisting terror management right away, from the moment of the attack, precisely when it seems most difficult to do so.

Both of these positions, inevitability and eternity, are antihistorical. The only thing that stands between them is history itself. History allows us to see patterns and make judgments. It sketches for us the structures within which we can seek freedom.

The fact that most Americans do not have passports has become a problem for American democracy.