advocacy, futility, glean, homage, humble, inordinate, paradigm, polemic, profound
Brad Pitt wrote a feature for Esquire entitled "Fifteen Things I Think Everyone Should Know." His list includes a polemic on the futility of spending inordinate sums of money on the drug war; a personal statement about his advocacy of adoption; a plea for a new paradigm regarding human consumption and the environment; an homage to the Jewish Museum in Berlin, the architecture of which has a "profound effect" that he finds "humbling"; and a few words of wisdom that he has gleaned from his parenting experiences.
polemic - (noun) a controversial argument [The adjective form of this word means "controversial."]
futility - (noun) ineffectiveness; uselessness
inordinate - (adjective) excessive; beyond normal or rational limits
advocacy - (noun) active support, often associated with argument or pleading
paradigm - (noun) a model; an example; a philosophical framework or perspective
homage - (noun) respect; tribute [This word is often used in the verb phrase "pay homage to."]
profound - (adjective) having deep meaning; having deep insight; existing deeply below the surface; deep
humble - (verb) to cause to be modest; to humiliate [The present participle of this verb is "humbling," which means "causing to be modest." The adjective form of "humble" means "modest; respectful; small in size; low in importance."]
glean - (verb) to learn or discover, usually slowly or bit by bit; to gather, usually slowly or bit by bit