Like the philosopher, the author views his task as one of establishing a clear connection between life and history, and of making the past bear fruit for the present and future.

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

Like the philosopher, the author views his task as one of establishing a clear connection between life and history, and of making the past bear fruit for the present and future.

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.

An action doesn't have to be wrong just because it is not logical. It doesn't have to be right just because it has its logic.

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

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.