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Rice University President's Lecture by Edward Said, professor of comparative literature and chair of the doctoral program at Columbia University, on "The Tragedy of Palestine." Delivered on March 26th, 1998.

Barack Obama speaks in Nashua, New Hampshire on the night of the democratic primary (January 6, 2008).

Sermon at the Ebenezer Baptist Church on April 30, 1967

"Ecclesiastes is a book of the Hebrew Bible. The English name derives from the Greek translation of the Hebrew title.

"The author represents himself as the son of David, and king over Israel in Jerusalem. The work consists of personal or autobiographic matter, at times expressed in aphorisms and maxims illuminated in terse paragraphs with reflections on the meaning of life and the best way of life. The work emphatically proclaims all the actions of man to be inherently "vain", "futile", "empty", or "meaningless," depending on translation, as the lives of both wise and foolish men end in death. While the teacher clearly promotes wisdom as a means for a well-lived earthly life, he is unable to ascribe eternal meaning to it. In light of this perceived senselessness, the preacher suggests that one should enjoy the simple pleasures of daily life, such as eating, drinking, and taking enjoyment in one's wife and work, which are gifts from the hand of God."

Delivered on Feb 2, 2007.

"Rappaccini's Daughter" is a short story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1844 and collected in Mosses from an Old Manse that concerns a medical researcher in medieval Padua.

There is no great and no small
To the Soul that maketh all:
And where it cometh, all things are;
And it cometh everywhere.

I am owner of the sphere,
Of the seven stars and the solar year,
Of Caesar's hand, and Plato's brain,
Of Lord Christ's heart, and Shakspeare's strain.

"Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (also Leibnitz or von Leibniz (July 1 (June 21 Old Style) 1646 – November 14, 1716) was a German polymath who wrote primarily in Latin and French.

"Nathaniel Hawthorne (born Nathaniel Hathorne; July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was a 19th century American novelist and short story writer. He is seen as a key figure in the development of American literature for his tales of the nation's colonial history.