Legend has it that a man once approached the Jewish sage Hillel the Elder with a challenge: if he could sum up the principles of Judaism in a single sentence, the man would convert. Hillel responded, “What is hateful to thee, do not unto thy fellow man: this is the whole of the law; the rest is commentary.” Hillel’s words...

Embed from Getty Images It’s been 60 years since Dr. King spoke to 250,000 supporters on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on a warm August afternoon in 1963. King’s stirring words about character, however, were improvised not written. Standing close to the civil rights leader, gospel singer Mahalia Jackson whispered, “Tell ‘em about ‘the dream,’ Martin.” I have a...

Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world.  —Robert Kennedy Before a campaign appearance in Indianapolis, Indiana, Sen. Robert Kennedy had just learned of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.. The crowd he was planning to address had not yet...

While Americans continue to struggle with a deadly virus and financial starvation, excellence in national leadership has been reduced to a group of toxic enablers that appeal to an insular “base” that promotes our worst impulses instead of our best. The ’60s suffered its own challenges. Civil rights. Vietnam. The assassination of three political leaders. But then something stunning happened....

Dear Undecided Voter, I’m hoping to aid your decision-making and help clarify what’s at stake in tomorrow’s election. Here’s what we know: According to Washington Post fact-checker, Glenn Kessler, since his time in office, Donald Trump as made a total of 22,247 false or misleading statements since assuming office. FactCheck.org and Politifact.com offer similar lists. Absent any evidence,  » Read more...

“We can’t become what we need to be by remaining what we are.” — Oprah Winfrey Confederate statues are coming down. Quaker Oats is dropping Aunt Jemima from its maple syrup. Even the new streaming service, HBO Max, has withdrawn, for the time being, the 1939 film, Gone with the Wind, due to its racist depictions. From appearances, the country...

On Friday I wrote about the painful decision-making confronting physicians throughout the world who are not only facing a tsunami of coronavirus patients, but a shortage of critical supplies including ventilators, devices that provide air to those who are unable to breathe on their own. Ethical decision-making goes back as far as Chinese philosopher Confucius, who advised, “What you do...

These days, Washington is loaded with bad news, cynicism, corruption, and perhaps more division than we have all seen in our lifetimes. But at Thirteenth Street and Potomac Avenue, the kindness of strangers still exists and … so does gratitude. As reported by WUSA, channel 9 in D.C. (Aug. 22), “The notes appeared mysteriously overnight. “A mysterious heart attack victim...

“Individual faults and fragilities are no excuse to give in, and no exemption from the common obligation to give of ourselves. Today, more than ever before, I believe that each of us as individuals must not only struggle to make a better world, but to make ourselves better, too….” – Senator Edward M. Kennedy, speech at JFK School of Government,...

Last Saturday’s U.S. Open Women’s final should have been an incredible moment for Japan’s Naomi Osaka. It wasn’t, thanks to some excessive anger by a professional who should know better. The 20-year old Osaka, soft-spoken and shy, was in tears after winning the match on what Williams and others have labeled a double-standard by chair umpire Carlos Ramos when he...