It is not enough just to identify a problem; there are plenty of people who were very skilled at pointing out what was wrong with the world, but they were not always so adept at working out how these things could be righted.

Self-pity does not appreciate pedantry.

Ritual is a terribly important, binding cement in a society. If we abandon formality and rituals, we're actually weakening the relationships that exist between people that bind.

Antonia was very conscious of the corrosive power of envy and felt that it was this emotion, more than any other, which lay behind human unhappiness. People did not realize how widespread envy was.

There is room in history for all of us.

I have always taken the view that one should never hold against a man anything he says after twelve o'clock at night or after a glass or two of anything.

Do not take on a traditionally built person unless you are prepared for a heavyweight bout.