The unrecorded past is none other than our old friend, the tree in the primeval forest which fell without being heard

Books are humanity in print.

In the United States we have a society pervaded from top to bottom by contempt for the law.

Disaster is rarely as pervasive as it seems from recorded accounts. The fact of being on the record makes it appear continuous and ubiquitous whereas it is more likely to have been sporadic both in time and place.

The reality of a question is inevitably more complicated than we would like to suppose.

When people don't have an objective, there's much less dynamic effort, and that makes life a lot less interesting.

Nothing is more satisfying than to write a good sentence. It is no fun to write lumpishly, dully, in prose the reader must plod through like wet sand. But it is a pleasure to achieve, if one can, a clear running prose that is simple yet full of surprises. This does not just happen. It requires skill, hard work, a good ear, and continued practice.