I feel that as much as I enjoy loafing, there is something higher for which to live.

Books can change your life. Some of the most influential people in our lives are characters we meet in books.

Once I discovered the endless fascination of doing the research and of doing the writing, I knew I had found what I wanted to do in my life. Every book is a new journey. I never felt I was an expert on a subject as I embarked on a project.

A nation that forgets its past can function no better than an individual with amnesia.

When you start to write, things begin to come into focus in a way they don't when you're not writing. It's a very good way to find out how much you don't know because you learn specifically what you need to know that you don't know at the moment by writing.

If the attitude of the teacher toward the material is positive, enthusiastic, committed and excited, the students get that. If the teacher is bored, students get that and they get bored, quickly, instinctively.

No harm's done to history by making it something someone would want to read.