There is nothing harder, at moments, than talking to someone who has all the power of silence.

I wasn't brought up to be dazzled by money or fame.

For the first time, I had been struck by the excitement of the traveler who looks history in her subtle face.

The very worst impulses of humankind can survive generations, centuries, even millennia. And the best of our individual efforts can die with us at the end of a single lifetime.

Then you must say to her, 'Madame, I observe that your heart is broken. Allow me to repair it for you.

The thing that most haunted me that day, however...was the fact that these things had - apparently - actually occurred...For all his attention to my historical education, my father had neglected to tell me this: history's terrible moments were real. I understand now, decades later, that he could never have told me. Only history itself can convince you of such a truth. And once you've seen that truth - really seen it - you can't look away.

As you know, human history is full of evil deeds, and maybe we ought to think of them with tears, not fascination.