History is rich with adventurous men, long on charisma, with a highly developed instinct for their own interests, who have pursued personal power - bypassing parliaments and constitutions, distributing favours to their minions, and conflating their own desires with the interests of the community.

The French, the Italians, the Germans, the Spanish and the English have spent centuries killing each other.

The more elusive and ambiguous a symbol is, the more it gains significance and power.

I lacked the courage to investigate the weaknesses of the wicked, because I discovered they are the same as the weaknesses of the saintly.

Socrates ... did not write. It seems academically obvious that he perished because he did not publish!

The most interesting letters I received about 'The Name of the Rose' were from people in the Midwest that maybe didn't understand exactly, but wanted to understand more and who were excited by this picture of a world which was not their own.

A great problem of the internet is how to filter information, how to discard what is not relevant or what is silly and to keep only the important information.