The "terror" of the French Revolution lasted for ten years. The terror that preceded and led to it lasted for a thousand years.

The Latino military fare badly when they stumble into war with the gringos. But in the torture, murder, and massacre of their own people, they have always performed with brilliance and elan.

Henry James was our master of periphrasis -- the fine art of saying as little as possible in the greatest number of words.

The love of wilderness is more than a hunger for what is always beyong reach; it is also an expression of loyalty to the earth, the earth which bore us and sustains us, the only paradise we shall ever know, the only paradise we ever need, if only we had the eyes to see.

A crude meal, no doubt, but the best of all sauces is hunger.

Jane Austen: Getting into her books is like getting in bed with a cadaver. Something vital is lacking; namely, life.

Congress is always willing to appropriate money for more and bigger paved roads, anywhere -- particularly if they form loops.