I think that a good education ought to be in part the idea that ease and joy are not synonymous. Some of the most fulfilling pleasures of life are to be found in work - found in work you love to do, work you want to do, work that makes you want to get out of bed in the morning.

You can't be a full participant in our democracy if you don't know our history.

My shorthand answer is that I try to write the kind of book that I would like to read. If I can make it clear and interesting and compelling to me, then I hope maybe it will be for the reader.

There's no such thing as a foreseeable future.

Every book is a new journey. I never felt I was an expert on a subject as I embarked on a project.

May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof.

I often think of that when I hear people say that they haven't time to read.