Out-of-step intellectuals like Noam Chomsky and the deceased Edward Said have often been dismissed as crazy extremists, 'anti-American,' and in Mr. Said's case even, absurdly, as apologists for Palestinian 'terrorism.'

American literature has always been immigrant.

However, in the end, the question [remains]: Why him and not the man standing next to him? Why did this person become a terrorist whereas the person standing next to him, suffering all the same privations, having probably all the same political points of view, did not become a terrorist? The answer to that is an old novelistic answer. The answer to that is character .

Don't let the zealots make Muslim a terrifying word."

[1,000 Days 'Trapped Inside a Metaphor' (Columbia University / The New York Times, December 12, 1991)]

It is often said by religious people that without its framework, there is no sense of right or wrong. My view is that religion comes after ethics.

How do you defeat terrorism? Don’t be terrorized.