In academic life, false ideas are merely false, and useless ones can be fun to play with. Michael Ignatieff academicfalsefun Change image and share on social
Affirming belief that America is an exceptional nation has become a test of patriotism in American politics. Michael Ignatieff affirmamericaamerican Change image and share on social
What everybody forgets is that when I was a journalist in Britain and in the United States, I was always a Canadian. And the price of expatriation does not go down, it goes up. I never felt part of the political common sense of Britain. I never felt it in the United States. I had no natural home in Britain and the U.S. Michael Ignatieff britaincanadiancommon share on social
I had the vocation for politics. What I didn't have was any aptitude for political combat. I took the attacks personally, which is a great mistake. It's never personal: It's just business. It was ever thus. Michael Ignatieff aptitudeattackbusiness share on social
A society is not a market. It is a political community. Michael Ignatieff communitymarketpolitical Change image and share on social
The core of human rights work is naming and shaming those who commit abuses, and pressuring governments to put the screws to abusing states. As a result, human rights conventions are unique among international law instruments in depending for their enforcement mostly on the activism of a global civil society movement. Michael Ignatieff abusecivilcommit share on social
The disagreeable reality for those who believe in human rights is that there are some occasions - and Iraq may be one of them - when war is the only real remedy for regimes that live by terror. Michael Ignatieff disagreeablehumaniraq Change image and share on social
Secessionists, whether in Scotland, Catalonia, Quebec or anywhere else, invariably assume that a person must either be Scottish or British, Catalan or Spanish, Quebecois or Canadian. What about those who feel they are both? Michael Ignatieff assumebritishcanadian share on social
Conservatives believe that international institutions such as the United Nations are anti-American and anti-Israeli cabals. Progressives do not like the economic medicine that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank force down the throats of developing countries. Michael Ignatieff americanantibank share on social
All the best reasons for going into politics never really change: the desire for glory and fame and the chance to do something that really matters, that will make life better for a lot of people. Michael Ignatieff chancechangedesire Change image and share on social