I have learned, as I wrote, that history must be discovered, not declared. It's an admission that one grows in life.

The Chinese, on the other hand, were in the position of having an American military spy plane on a Chinese military base and they had their own internal problems to deal with. At first, the Chinese weren't all that belligerent. They were just stalling to get their own bureaucracy in line.

We have three things in common: Irish wives, the ability to speak for 17 minutes without a verb, and the fact that we both speak with an accent.

Every civilization that has ever existed has ultimately collapsed.

People are generally amazed that I would take an interest in any form that would require me to stop talking for three hours.

In my view, there's no doubt that the Soviets had infinitely greater trouble holding their structure together than we did.

The enemies you make by taking a decided stand generally have more respect for you than the friends you make by being on the fence