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.

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

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.

An author who sets about to depict events of the past that have run their course is suspected of wishing to avoid the problems of the present day, of being, in other words, a reactionary.

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

Both the historian and the novelist view history as the struggle of a tiny minority, able and determined to make judgments, which is up against a vast and densely packed majority of the blind, who are led by their instincts and unable to think for themselves.