The contemporary historian never writes such a true history as the historian of a later generation.
Books are a habit-forming drug.
An appreciative listener is always stimulating.
Assumptions are dangerous things.
There was a moment when I changed from an amateur to a professional. I assumed the burden of a profession, which is to write even when you don't want to, don't much like what you're writing, and aren't writing particularly well
Things go entirely differently from the way you planned them.