"Every empire, however, tells itself and the world that it is unlike all other empires."

"The intellectual is an individual with a vocation for the critical examination of society, for the exposure of injustice and oppression, for the assertion of universal values."

"The intellectual must be an exile, an outcast, a marginal figure."

"Islam has been politicized and turned into a code word by anti-Muslim elements in the West."

"It is quite common to hear high officials in Washington and elsewhere speak of changing the map of the Middle East, as if ancient societies and myriad peoples can be shaken up like so many peanuts in …"