I would love to do an unauthorized biography about Congress. It's like a secret society up there.

I tend to place my own value in spirituality rather than religiosity.

I admired Eugene McCarthy’s courage and although I left his Senate staff after four years to accept a job as the researcher on the editorial page of the Washington Post, I remained an admirer.

Once I decide to do something, I can't have people telling me I can't. If there's a roadblock, you jump over it, walk around it, crawl under it.

I don't give you editorial control. I want to meet you. I want to interview everybody who's ever known you. I want to see your correspondence. I want to see your bank statements. But you will have no control over what I write. That's why I really believe in the unauthorized biography.

A hero is someone we can admire without apology.

I have believed in the biographies I have written. I truly can tell you that they have influenced our society politically, culturally, socially.