Conservatism, for me, is the philosophy and the politics of attachment.

A high culture is the self-consciousness of a society. It contains the works of art, literature, scholarship and philosophy that establish a shared frame of reference among educated people.

The great benefit of philosophy, which is also its great weakness, is that all its steps are taken in the spirit of doubt.

Politics is a matter of day-to-day improvisation, and it often seems as though the major parties are guided only by the desire to stay in office and not by any philosophy that might justify their doing so.

Growing up in the greater Toronto area, I was a happy kid. I was my mother's first child, surrounded by admiring godparents and cousins.

I don't come from an intellectual family.

My mother, Yolanda, was a little girl who never grew up, and sometimes we would laugh, and I would say things like, 'Okay, so now it looks like I am your mother and you are my daughter,' to which she would reply, 'Well, yes. Handle it and pamper me.'

I will never endorse a fairness product because I was not comfortable growing up being the darkest person in my family. Also, I won't endorse alcohol, as I believe that it's not good for health.