That young man seeks opportunities to test his principles as readily as a drunk picks fights in a bar.

History is too important to be left to the historians.

By dawn he had surrendered, gratefully, to the old inertia, the product of always seeing both sides of every question.

Humans have changed little over time. We think we've invented the modern world but they were making better speeches 2,000 years ago and grappling with issues of empire and terrorism.

It's when you've stopped writing and are doing other things, especially when you're asleep, that the real work is done.

Their souls were contagious. ... Bloodsuckers, spiders and vampires: that was what Lenin called them.

Suicide leaves everyone feeling guilty.