I have always felt like an artist when I work on a book. I see no reason why the word should always be confined to writers of fiction and poetry.

War is the unfolding of miscalculations.

The nastiness of women [in the 14th century] was generally perceived at the close of life when a man began to worry about hell, and his sexual desire in any case fading.

To put on the garment of legitimacy is the first aim of every coup.

More than a code of manners in war and love, Chivalry was a moral system, governing the whole of noble life.

Strong prejudices in an ill-formed mind are hazardous to government, and when combined with a position of power even more so.

The fleet sailed to its war base in the North Sea, headed not so much for some rendezvous with glory as for rendezvous with discretion.

What his imagination is to the poet, facts are to the historian. His exercise of judgment comes in their selection, his art in their arrangement.

Business, like a jackal, trotted on the heels of war.

One must stop conducting research before one has finished. Otherwise, one will never stop and never finish.

Diplomacy means all the wicked devices of the Old World, spheres of influence, balances of power, secret treaties, triple alliances, and, during the interim period, appeasement of Fascism.

The media says that equality for women has arrived, but if you look around, you still don't see girls playing guitars and having success with it.

Writing has laws of perspective, of light and shade just as painting does, or music. If you are born knowing them, fine. If not, learn them. Then rearrange the rules to suit yourself.

You can't change who you are, but you can change what you have in your head, you can refresh what you're thinking about, you can put some fresh air in your brain.

A son is a son 'til he gets a wife, but a daughter is a daughter all her life.

You have to give the electorate a tune they can whistle.

We must work harder to build mutual respect, an attitude of tolerance, with forbearance one for another.

Time is a factory where everyone slaves away earning enough love to break their own chains.

Contentment is a pearl of great price

I see too many men delay their exits with a sickly, slow reluctance to leave the stage. It's bad theater as well as bad living.

There's no perfect coach in the world. Coaches are human, too. Mistakes are made. But, fundamentally, if you're sound, you eliminate as many mistakes as possible.