Civilizations rise and fall on confidence. America had figured out a way to borrow money to manufacture it.

The substance of faith is a hope in the unseen.

If you write something that gets a bad response, or someone commits candor or is off message, there are often consequences almost immediately when it appears in the paper or a magazine, that somebody gets called into the boss's office. And sometimes it can result in a loss of access for the reporter.

By virtue of some of the ways the game is played, in terms of message discipline, in terms of access for reporters, and especially in the way that sources and subjects, especially famous subjects, treat the media, almost by default there's more news that's falling into books.

Every person has their pantheon - the Bible, Hollywood, Shakespeare - their way of understanding the world.

It is one thing to rouse the passion of a people, and quite another to lead them.

The media has become more forceful, has begun to recognize its traditional historic role and act on it, and truth is infectious.