It is wiser, I believe, to arrive at theory by way of evidence rather than the other way around.... It is more rewarding, in any case, to assemble the facts first and, in the process of arranging them in narrative form, to discover a theory or a historical generalization emerging of its own accord.

To put away one's own original thoughts in order to take up a book is a sin against the Holy Ghost.

Government remains the paramount area of folly because it is there that men seek power over others - only to lose it over themselves.

Above all, discard the irrelevant.

We seem to be afflicted by a widespread and eroding reluctance to take any stand on any values, moral, behavioral or esthetic.

The story and study of the past, both recent and distant, will not reveal the future, but it flashes beacon lights along the way and it is a useful nostrum against despair.

Nothing sickens me more than the closed door of a library.