The great wars of the 20th Century made it into the worst Century ever.

American is the first democratic nation-state.

Writing is not the easiest way to make a living. Your work long hours, usually all by yourself. It is not a way to make money.

In 1945, there were more people killed, more buildings destroyed, more high explosives set off, more fires burning than before or since.

Lieutenant Welsh remembered walking around among the sleeping men, and thinking to himself that 'they had looked at and smelled death all around them all day but never even dreamed of applying the term to themselves. They hadn't come here to fear. They hadn't come to die. They had come to win.

Friends never cheat on each other, or take advantage, or lie. Friends do not spy on one another, yet they have no secrets. Friends glory in each other's successes and are downcast by the failures. Friends minister to each other, nurse each other. Friends give to each other, worry about each other, stand always ready to help. Perfect friendship is rarely achieved, but at its height it is an ecstasy.

Neighbors are far better acoustic analyzers for determining the quality of their life versus any acoustic instrument left unattended by an expert.