With ancient history writers most immediately in view, the author indicates "tendency to look to the virtues and vices of individuals when seeking causes.

Foreign policy often involved nothing more than the decision whom to make war upon.

The way to a landowner's heart was to tax gently.

The cornerstone of the Roman legionnaires' astonishing fighting spirit can be attributed to their training.

The factor that made him so powerful was also his greatest liability.

He was a stylist, not a thinker. He spent time trying to say things in as complicated a way as possible.

Author describes one monarch's impressive table but conveys a contemporary's observation, "the weightiest thing at dinner was the conversation".

Never base motivation or fear, entirely.

Reality confounds image.

She felt wild and unruly, determined and free.

Life can end any time, any day.

Let's toast a real wine expert - someone who knows a good rose goes best with bologna sandwiches.

Bats drink on the wing, like swallows, by sipping the surface, as they play over pools and streams.

Virtue - even attempted virtue - brings light; indulgence brings fog.

All hunt for fame, but most mistake the way.

Aeronautics was neither an industry nor a science. It was a miracle.

If there is anything that I think I might use later, I underline it.

I'm an R&B and Hip-Hop type guy. When I work out, which I do at least four or five times a week, I love to get the latest Hip-Hop because it really pumps me up and inspires me to get that workout on.

No one is more hated than he who speaks the truth.