There are certain wicked people in the world that you can't deal with except by force

The written history of the world is largely a history of warfare, because the states within which we live came into existence largely through conquest, civil strife, or struggles for independence.

The great men of power who seek to change the nations they belong to usually are pretty terrible people.

Hitler ... lacked the [inclination] for anything more than the occasional sensational display of emotion, in particular the great set-piece speech which mesmerized the mob and left him drained of ... energy.

It's commonly said that people who've been ill in childhood and who've had an upset education never really regret that they do. It means that you don't look at the world in the way that other people do, and if you were inclined to be a writer, that's a help.

Good men who exercise power are really the most fascinating of all people.

Nobody should teach anywhere for 25 years, but I did.