Right action tends to be defined in terms of general individual rights and standards that have been critically examined and agreed upon by the whole society.

I'm most passionate about anything to do with nature and the simple things. I love taking walks with my family or my friends and seeing nature. And that's why I love living where I live because I live up in the desert area in the mountains.

We live in the country. I'm a redneck. No, ha-ha. I live in L.A. County, but more in the hills. Not in the fancy kind! Trust me; whatever you do you do not want to come to my neighborhood!

Family was real important in putting me on my path. I'm so blessed to come from a home with a mother and a father.

I trust my wife more than I trust myself.

You are a member of the British royal family. We are never tired, and we all love hospitals.

Having grown up on a family farm, I am all too familiar with the effects a drought can have on a crop.

A long-lasting and sustained recovery will never be achieved through massive government spending programs.

Access to capital is critical for small business success and crucial to our economic recovery. Without access to capital, many small companies are not able to maintain operations, let alone expand and create new jobs.

If I won the lottery I'd start a charity that helped little family hardware stores, cobblers and fruit shops open in city centres.

People are more violently opposed to fur than leather because it's safer to harass rich women than motorcycle gangs.

There's nothing I value more than the closeness of friends and family, a smile as I pass someone on the street.

To be successful, one must take chances.

The bat is gone, but the smile remains.

I do get to have my normal childhood. I just love to get together with my friends and family and have a good time.

Some of the most important conversations I've ever had occurred at my family's dinner table.

I promised her an interesting life and good food, and the rest is history.

I don't know what leadership is. You can't touch it. You can't feel it. It's not tangible. But I do know this: you recognize it when you see it.

Leadership is about doing what you know is right - even when a growing din of voices around you is trying to convince you to accept what you know to be wrong.

I have a good support system of friends and family.

I don't mind if somebody texts me but I'm not a big texter, the things are too small. I don't mind if they text, '7 o'clock,' that's fine, that's logistics but, 'What's up?' Get real! Pick up a phone!

If you're not having a good time, find something else that gives you some joy in life.

My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, 'You're tearing up the grass'; 'We're not raising grass,' Dad would reply. 'We're raising boys.'

Hospice is such a tremendous thing. Patients seem to reach an inner peace.

The Mayo Clinic is one of the largest and most experienced medical centers treating esophageal cancer in the world.

I like a quiet evening with family or friends over, great food and great discussion and a lot of laughter. That's really what I think fills my tank.

Innovation is the calling card of the future.

I think it's a lovely idea, but it will not pass the Congress. I live in a world of realities. The policy of our country is that we can drill our way to independence. I think that's a march to folly.

A free and open Internet should not have to be weighed down by legal challenges - its dynamism is essential to our economy.

The number of stressors has multiplied exponentially: traffic, money, success, work/life balance, the economy, the environment, parenting, family conflict, relationships, disease. As the nature of human life has become far more complicated, our ancient stress response hasn't been able to keep up.

The more you worry, the more you throw off the delicate balance of hormones required for health.

Remember that stress doesn't come from what's going on in your life. It comes from your thoughts about what's going on in your life.

Learning should be engaging. Testing should not be the be all and end all. All students should have a broad curriculum that includes the arts and enrichment. Students should have opportunities to work in teams and engage in project-based learning. And student and family well-being should be front and center.

Due process gives teachers the latitude to use their professional judgment in their classrooms, to advocate for their students, and to not fear retribution for speaking the truth or teaching controversial subjects like evolution. As political winds shift in school districts, due process also wards off patronage or nepotism.

A high-quality public education can build much-needed skills and knowledge. It can help children reach their God-given potential. It can stabilize communities and democracies. It can strengthen economies. It can combat the kind of fear and despair that evolves into hatred.

Standardized testing is at cross purposes with many of the most important purposes of public education. It doesn't measure big-picture learning, critical thinking, perseverance, problem solving, creativity or curiosity, yet those are the qualities great teaching brings out in a student.

Ensuring that we help prepare all kids for life, college, and work in our knowledge-based economy will require a collaborative, sustained effort from all stakeholders - from the president and the secretary of education on down to states, school districts, principals, teachers, parents, and community members.

A rich, robust, well-resourced public education is one of the best routes out of poverty and a pathway to prosperity.

For me, the labor movement and public education are linked as the essential building blocks to a strong middle class and a path to the American dream. It's why I went to Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations as an undergrad and then to law school.

Giving children a fair chance to achieve their dreams and reach their potential is everyone's responsibility.

When student performance shows increases on test scores, that improvement is not associated with an increase in 'fluid intelligence' - that is, using logical thinking and problem solving in novel situations, rather than recalling previously learned facts and skills.

Kids need time for problem solving, critical thinking, applying knowledge through project-based instruction, working in teams, falling down and getting right back up to figure out what they didn't understand and why.

Teaching is a profession in which capacity building should occur at every stage of the career - novices working with accomplished colleagues, skillful teachers sharing their craft, and opportunities for teacher leadership.

I've worked in public education for 30 years - as a teacher, a lawyer and union leader. I've visited hundreds of schools and districts. I've seen leaders from the classroom to the national stage who have been willing to set aside their differences and do the hard work that's necessary to create real, enduring change.

I can't imagine my life without books. My father was an electrical engineer, and my mother was a public school teacher. Books were an integral part of my childhood.

Throughout my career as a lawyer, teacher and labor leader, books have remained my constant companion - stuffed into a briefcase, overflowing on my bedside table, stacked on my desk at work. Books have carried me to distant worlds, opened new doors and made me feel empathy, compassion, anger, fear, joy, acceptance - and everything in between.

As a former teacher and someone who has devoted her entire career to children and public schools, I understand the pain and frustration of parents who feel their children are not receiving the education they deserve.

Merit pay has failed repeatedly, and it's no surprise. When you base teacher pay on standardized test scores, you won't improve education; you just promote the high-stakes testing craze that's led parents, students and educators to shout 'Enough!' all across the country.

Schools should be places of learning and joy, not testing and agita.

I have repeatedly called for residency programs for teachers, like those you see in the medical profession, to ensure our educators have the training and knowledge to succeed in their classrooms and in their careers.