And read… read all the time… read as a matter of principle, as a matter of self-respect. Read as a nourishing staple of life.

I don't pick my presidents because they were great presidents. I'm not much interested in ranking presidents and who is the best and who is the worst. I am much more inclined to be interested in them if they had an interesting life and if they were a complete person - and by that I mean they also had flaws and failings.

You have overburdened your argument with ostentatious erudition.

If everyone is special, then no one is. If everyone gets a trophy, trophies become meaningless.

You can't love what you don't know much about. You can't convince, stimulate, hold the attention, teach, if you don't know what you're talking about.

The talent, including the talent for history - and I do think there are people who just have a talent for it, the way you have a talent for public speaking or music or whatever - it shouldn't be allowed to lie dormant. It should be brought alive.

Climb the mountain so you can see the world, not so the world can see you.