Bismarck had cunningly taught the parties not to aim at national appeal but to represent interests. They remained class or sectional pressure-groups under the Republic. This was fatal, for it made the party system, and with it democratic parliamentarianism, seem a divisive rather than a unifying factor. Worse: it meant the parties never produced a leader who appealed beyond the narrow limits of his own following.

The word 'meaningful' when used today is nearly always meaningless.

Courage is the essential element in any great public man or woman.

As a child I found railroad stations exciting, mysterious, and even beautiful, as indeed they often were.

Democracy has many enemies, and the terrorist is only one of them.

I don't write huge books any more. I used to write 1,000 printed pages, but now I write short books. I did one on Napoleon, 50,000 words - enjoyed doing that. He was a baddie. I did one on Churchill, which was a bestseller in New York, I'm glad to say. 50,000 words. He was a goodie.

Conservation of energy. Never stand up when you can sit down, and never sit down when you can lie down.