Martha Nussbaum

When we have emotions of fear and pity toward the hero of a tragedy, we explore aspects of our own vulnerability in a safe and pleasing setting.

In general, I agree with Socrates that what democracies badly need is the examined life, and we need to think critically about ourselves.

You have to connect your work to what people are doing. A good way is to construct a bridge between theory and practice - Amartya Sen and I tried this by founding the Human Development and Capabilities Association where practitioners meet theoreticians and their discourse influences practice.

Mob rule is always extremely dangerous for the future of democracy.

At Chicago I offer a course on Emotion, Reason and the Law that law students just love. But I am not there as a lawyer, my job is to teach philosophy.

I thought as an actress I would be able to have broader emotional experiences, but then I quickly figured out that I wanted to think about tragic dramas, not act in them.

Disgust for the female body is always tinged with anxiety, since the body symbolizes mortality.

I worked among many famous philosophers, and I tried to observe how they treated students. I knew which ones I wanted to be like, and which ones I didn't.

Hilary Putnam died of cancer at the age of 89. Those of us who had the good fortune to know Putnam as mentees, colleagues, and friends remember his life with profound gratitude and love, since Hilary was not only a great philosopher, but also a human being of extraordinary generosity, who really wanted people to be themselves, not his acolytes.

It is easier to treat people as objects to be manipulated if you have never learned any other way to see them.

Teaching has always been a very important part of my life. It is one of the ways I contribute to society. It is also a source of energy and insight.

The imagination is an innate gift, but it needs refinement and cultivation; this is what the humanities provide.