"MSN became a quagmire, partly because of Microsoft's hubris."

“While [European] national cultures were concocted to distinguish one economic unit of capital from another, civilizational thinking was invented to unify these cultures against their colonial consequences. Islamic, Indian, or African civilizations were invented contrapuntally by Orientalism ...in order to match, balance and thus authenticate 'Western Civilization'.”

Source : "For the Last Time: Civilizations". International Sociology, Volume 16, Issue 3, September 01, 2001.

“Nothing in life is certain except death, taxes and the second law of thermodynamics. All three are processes in which useful or accessible forms of some quantity, such as energy or money, are transformed into useless, inaccessible forms of the same quantity. That is not to say that these three processes don't have fringe benefits: taxes pay for roads and schools; the second law of thermodynamics drives cars, computers and metabolism; and death, at the very least, opens up tenured faculty positions.”

“Invitation is not only a step in bringing people together, it is also a fundamental way of being in a community. It manifests the willingness to live in a collaborative way. This means that a future can be created without having to force or sell it or barter for it. When we believe that barter or subtle coercion is necessary, we are operating out of a context of scarcity and self-interest, the core currencies of the economist.”

“For a long time, I really struggled with the idea of being an actor because I really felt that I should be in the Peace Corps.”

“Has anybody seen my tambourine?”

“Manners are the ability to put someone else at their ease...by turning any answer into another question.”

“The light of love sees no walls.”

“A woman is like whiskey. She evaporates a little over time, distilled by disappointments and grief. One can never predict if the angels will take the best of her or the worst. Only time will tell if the woman that remains will be bitter, dispirited or aged to perfection.”