People make a grievous error thinking that a list of facts is the truth. Facts are just the bare bones out of which truth is made.

Before the war it was always the United States *are*, after the war it was the United States is... it made us an is.

The Civil War defined us as what we are and it opened us to being what we became, good and bad things... It was the crossroads of our being, and it was a hell of a crossroads.

If you want to study writing, read Dickens. That's how to study writing, or Faulkner, or D.H. Lawrence, or John Keats. They can teach you everything you need to know about writing.

When you grow up in a totally segregated society, where everybody around you believes that segregation is proper, you have a hard time. You can't believe how much it's a part of your thinking.

A university is just a group of buildings gathered around a library.

As a Southerner I would have to say that one of the main importances of the War is that Southerners have a sense of defeat which none of the rest of the country has.

I think making mistakes and discovering them for yourself is of great value, but to have someone else to point out your mistakes is a shortcut of the process.

I abhor the idea of a perfect world. It would bore me to tears.

Longevity conquers scandal every time.

North was only a direction indicated by a compass--if a man had one, that is, for otherwise there was no north or south or east or west; there was only the brooding desolation.

A leader’s skills take him to people, but his character brings people to him.

Only Marxists, " Dr. Iggy concluded, opening the door to usher Joe into the chapel room, "stillbelieve in an objective history. Marxists and a few disciples of Ayn Rand.

Is that Disney magic of pixie magic?" I kid... "It is life magic".

The timing of death, like the ending of a story, gives a changed meaning to what preceded it.

When I read that I had to go to Gettysburg.

To know one's own limitations is the hallmark of competence.

Never invest in any idea you can't illustrate with a crayon

Love is a metaphysical gravity.

In Christian marriage, love is not an option. It is a duty.