[quoting someone else] the American constitution is a document designed by geniuses to be eventually interpreted by idiots

Even in the best of lives, mistakes are made.

To my three sons, Peter, Scott, and Alexander who pulled me from the 18th Century and back into the present on a regular basis and therefore made me a better person, thank you. And to my wife, who sits at the table there. Who is right about almost everything.

Chronology, so the saying goes, is the last refuge of the feeble-minded and the only resort for historians.

I would say readers can trust my work more than anyone else's.

Lincoln once said that America was founded on a proposition that was written by Jefferson in 1776. We are really founded on an argument about what that proposition means.

Remember sometimes just the rush of having a crush is a temptation, even if it is inappropriate, but beware of playing with fire, you will get burned.