...the century's most radical vice... the notion that human beings can be shoveled around like concrete.

To many, Heathrow in August is a paradigm of Hell.

The Second World War took place not so much because no one won the First, but because the Versailles Treaty did not acknowledge this truth.

The writer learns to write, in the last resort, only by writing. He must get words onto paper even if he is dissatisfied with them. A young writer must cross many psychological barriers to acquire confidence in his capacity to produce good work-especially his first full-length book-and he cannot do this by staring at a piece of blank paper, searching for the perfect sentence.

A capitalist economy hums when leading businessmen are bubbling with animal spirits and are prepared to sink their money into risky ventures.

I don't write huge books any more. I used to write 1,000 printed pages, but now I write short books. I did one on Napoleon, 50,000 words - enjoyed doing that. He was a baddie. I did one on Churchill, which was a bestseller in New York, I'm glad to say. 50,000 words. He was a goodie.

You know you're an Arizona native when you have to look up "mass transit" in the dictionary.