Martha Nussbaum

“It's always been intriguing to me, the loveability of mortality.”

“Emotions aren't just mindless urges; they contain thoughts about matters of importance.”

“Fear and monarchy pair nicely. But democracy means you have to work with people you may not like but you must still believe are your equals. And a fearful people never trust the other side.”

“I listen to music. I particularly love Mozart.”

“I find so often, you know, just on a very mundane level; you've got a meeting and your child's acting in a school play. You can't do both things. And it's not simply that you can't do both,...”

“I am not a pacifist - I think that violence and self-defence are often morally justified.”

“I'm very passionate about political issues, but I also think that listening to people who disagree is extremely important, and I try to build that into my teaching, sometimes by co-teaching...”

“We see unreasoning fear driving a certain amount of public policy, perhaps more in Europe than in the U.S.”

“The U.S. has always understood itself to be united around political principles and not around culture, whereas the nations of Europe have a much more traditional conception of nationhood tha...”

“I think Americans did learn that you just are not going to be able to live well if you subordinate people on the grounds of their religion.”

“I wake up at night thinking about Euripides' 'Hecuba.' That to me is a story that says so much about what it is to be a human being in the middle of a world of unreliable things and people.”

“I don't waste time despising people.”

“Some emotions are essential to law and to public principles of justice: anger at wrongdoing, fear for our safety, compassion for the pain of others, all these are good reasons to make laws t...”