In the tumult of great events, solitude was what I hoped for. Now it is what I love. How is it possible to be contented with anything else when one has come face to face with history?

The perfection preached in the gospels never yet built an empire. Every man of action has a strong dose of egotism, pride, hardness, and cunning.

Hearing Mass is the ceremony I most favor during my travels. Church is the only place where someone speaks to me and I do not have to answer back.

Difficulty attracts the characterful man, for it is by grasping it that he fulfils himself.

Leaders of men are later remembered less for the usefulness of what they have achieved than for the sweep of their endeavors.

Adversity attracts the man of character. He seeks out the bitter joy of responsibility.

What do you take me for, an idiot?