Its awfully hard to be the son of a great man and also of a half-crazy woman.

History is a jangle of accidents, blunders, surprises and absurdities, and so is our knowledge of it, but if we are to report it at all we must impose some order upon it.

We should not be surprised that the Founding Fathers didn't foresee everything, when we see that the current Fathers hardly ever foresee anything.

The Americans who framed our Constitution felt that without freedom of religion no other freedom counted.

History, we can confidently assert, is useful in the sense that art and music, poetry and flowers, religion and philosophy are useful. Without it - as with these - life would be poorer and meaner; without it we should be denied some of those intellectual and moral experiences which give meaning and richness to life. Surely it is no accident that the study of history has been the solace of many of the noblest minds of every generation.

The greatest danger we face is not any particular kind of thought. The greatest danger we face is absence of thought.

History is organized memory, and the organization is all important!