As I spread my wings in politics, I discovered many Thatcher voters down south who were the same kind of people who loathed her in Scotland. They were puzzled by the Scots' antipathy, given the Falklands war and the strong militaristic history of the Highlands and elsewhere.

Like John Major in her wake, Thatcher was convinced that she understood the Scots - yet couldn't understand why we remained so stubbornly resistant towards the notion of understanding her.

I have always considered myself of the reforming centre-left.

We must restore faith in politics. Reform of the House of Lords is only one part of the answer, but it is a vital one.

A smaller-size party and parliamentary membership does not necessarily equate to lesser demands; if anything, the opposite can be the case.

The growing influence of focus groups means we are all in danger of being excessively cowed by their feedback.

Public perception of the Westminster arena, with all its posturings, does little to engender a sense of voter belief.

It is my determination that we, as a party, continue to make that fundamental restatement of liberal values in the politics of our country.

It is the government's fundamental duty to ensure the security of every individual citizen.

We believe that government in Britain should improve the quality of people's lives and improve the quality of our public services in every local community.

We believe that government in Britain should be working to restore our reputation on the international stage after Iraq and engage better within Europe.

We want a strong, vibrant economy for Britain so that we can set out a clear and affordable alternative programme for government.

We believe that government in Britain is there to protect people from terrorism and from the worst criminality, but never at the expense of our civil liberties and the basic tenets of our legal system.

It would be a tragedy if the remarkable international coalition against terrorism, successfully marshalled in the aftermath of 11 September, were to fragment over a unilateral U.S. strike against Baghdad.

This country has a proud history of opening its doors to generations of people fleeing personal persecution, civil unrest and war.

We opposed unlimited detention without trial. We stood up for trial by jury as well. And of course we spoke up for asylum seekers and for the most vulnerable in our society.

Only the Liberal Democrats have probed the government's failings consistently, thoroughly and effectively.

With every day that passes, David Blunkett becomes more insensitive in his language and more intemperate in his actions.

I find no contradiction between being a Highlander, a Scot, a citizen of the U.K. and a citizen of the European Union at one and the same time.

People have a huge desire to be listened to, for politicians to take the time to understand their problems.

Whenever you're faced with an explanation of what's going on in Washington, the choice between incompetence and conspiracy, always choose incompetence.

You're betraying your whole life if you don't say what you think - and you don't say it honestly and bluntly.

I believe that the pursuit of truth and right ideas through honest debate and rigorous argument is a noble undertaking.

The normalization of Trump is one indicator that there may be less to the populist insurrection than imagined.

I leave this life with no regrets. It was a wonderful life - full and complete with the great loves and great endeavors that make it worth living.

Every two years the American politics industry fills the airwaves with the most virulent, scurrilous, wall-to-wall character assassination of nearly every political practitioner in the country - and then declares itself puzzled that America has lost trust in its politicians.

For every moment of triumph, there is an unequal and opposite feeling of despair. Take that iconic photograph of Muhammad Ali standing triumphantly over the prostrate, semiconscious wreckage of Sonny Liston. Great photo. Now think of Liston. Do the pleasure/pain calculus.

Sometimes it's easy to go where the wind blows, but those that stand firmly planted are forces to be reckoned with.

I was a Great Society liberal on domestic issues. People ask me, 'How do you go from Walter Mondale to Fox News?' The answer is, 'I was young once.' End of answer.

Ideas matter. Legislative proposals matter. Slick campaigns and dazzling speeches can work for a while, but the magic always wears off.

There used to be a cruel joke that said Brazil is the country of the future, and always will be; Obama is the Brazil of today's politicians. He has obviously achieved nothing.

Baseball is a slow, boring, complex, cerebral game that doesn't lend itself to histrionics. You 'take in' a baseball game, something odd to say about a football or basketball game, with the clock running and the bodies flying.

The Internet is a cauldron of anger every day, every year, election year or not, with unemployment at 10 percent or at two percent. It isn't exactly a good index of what's happening.

Trump's relentless public humiliation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions was clearly intended to get him to resign.

This is a formidable enemy. To dismiss it as a bunch of 'cowards' perpetuating 'senseless acts of violence' is complacent nonsense. People willing to kill thousands of innocents while they kill themselves are not cowards. They are deadly vicious warriors and need to be treated as such.

When the Cleveland Cavaliers lost the 2015 NBA Finals to Golden State, LeBron James sat motionless in the locker room, staring straight ahead, still wearing his game jersey, for 45 minutes after the final buzzer. Here was a guy immensely wealthy, widely admired, at the peak of his powers - yet stricken, inconsolable.

A drone is a high-tech version of an old army and a musket. It ought to be used in Somalia to hunt bad guys, but not in America. I don't want to see it hovering over anybody's home.

There was once a philosopher who said, 'I don't believe in God, but I fear him greatly.' That's about where I am.

I envy people who write easily. I enjoy the process, but it's not easeful for me.

There is a mystique about psychiatry that people think that you have some kind of a magical lens, you know, Superman's X-ray vision into the soul. One of the reasons I left psychiatry is that I didn't believe that.

It is an old liberal theme that conservative ideas, being red in tooth and claw, cannot possibly emerge from any notion of the public good.

I don't mind going into a liberal lion's den. That's where you test yourself.

Life and consciousness are the two great mysteries. Actually, their substrates are the inanimate. And how do you get from neurons shooting around in the brain to the thought that pops up in your head and mine? There's something deeply mysterious about that. And if you're not struck by the mystery, I think you haven't thought about it.

Every civilization is founded on sins - every single one. Dispossession, violence, appropriation. What distinguishes civilizations are the ones who rise above it.

When a party is in opposition, it opposes. That's its job. But when it comes to power, it must govern. Easy rhetoric is over, the press of reality becomes irresistible. By necessity, it adopts some of the policies it had once denounced. And a new national consensus is born.

Obama is a leveler. He has come to narrow the divide between rich and poor. For him the ultimate social value is fairness. Imposing it upon the American social order is his mission.

I believe in what I believe, and I think after all these years I've heard a lot of arguments, and I'm convinced by the superiority of the arguments that are made on the conservative side. I think that's a better way to run a society.

Trump is a systemic stress test.

Chess: It's like alcohol. It's a drug. I have to control it, or it could overwhelm me. I have a regular Monday night game at my home, and I do play a little online.

I would say I see myself as a psychiatrist in remission.