I lament the want of a liberal education. I feel the mist of ignorance to surround me - Nathanael Greene

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

Curiosity is what separates us from the cabbages. It's accelerative. The more we know, the more we want to know.

I just thank my father and mother, my lucky stars, that I had the advantage of an education in the humanities.

There is a human longing to go back to other times. We all know how when we were children we asked our parents, "What was it like when you were a kid?" I think it probably has something to do with our survival as a species.

I can fairly be called an amateur because I do what I do, in the original sense of the word - for love, because I love it. On the other hand, I think that those of us who make our living writing history can also be called true professionals.

The pull, the attraction of history, is in our human nature. What makes us tick? Why do we do what we do? How much is luck the deciding factor?