Ever since my youth it has disturbed me that of the literary works that survived their own epoch, so many dealt with historical rather than contemporary subjects.

I have always made an effort to render every detail of my reality with the greatest accuracy; but I have never paid attention to whether my presentation of historical facts was an exact one.

It is only the strong who are strengthened by suffering; the weak are made weaker.

From depicting the past, so goes the suspicion, it is a short step to glorifying the past.

Asking the author of historical novels to teach you about history is like expecting the composer of a melody to provide answers about radio transmission.

There's only a step from the sublime to the ridiculous, but there's no road leading from the ridiculous to the sublime.

What is a historian, anyway? It is someone who uses facts to record the development of humanity.