To put away one's own original thoughts in order to take up a book is a sin against the Holy Ghost..

We seem to be afflicted by a widespread and eroding reluctance to take any stand on any values, moral, behavioral or esthetic..

The conduct of war was so much more interesting than its prevention..

When people don't have an objective, there's much less dynamic effort, and that makes life a lot less interesting..

The nastiness of women [in the 14th century] was generally perceived at the close of life when a man began to worry about hell, and his sexual desire….

Governments do not like to face radical remedies; it is easier to let politics predominate..

The fleet sailed to its war base in the North Sea, headed not so much for some rendezvous with glory as for rendezvous with discretion..

Diplomacy means all the wicked devices of the Old World, spheres of influence, balances of power, secret treaties, triple alliances, and, during the ….

Strong prejudices in an ill-formed mind are hazardous to government, and when combined with a position of power even more so..

The muffled tongue of Big Ben tolled nine by the clock as the cortege left the palace, but on history's clock it was sunset, and the sun of the old w….

After absorbing the news of today, one expects to face a world consisting entirely of strikes, crimes, power failures, broken water mains, stalled tr….

Rome had Caesar, a man of remarkable governing talents, although it must be said that a ruler who arouses opponents to resort to assassination is pro….

Human beings, like plans, prove fallible in the presence of those ingredients that are missing in maneuvers - danger, death, and live ammunition..

If wisdom in government eludes us, perhaps courage could substitute-the moral courage to terminate mistakes..

Fateful moments tend to evoke grandeur of speech, especially in French..

To a historian libraries are food, shelter, and even muse..

More than a code of manners in war and love, Chivalry was a moral system, governing the whole of noble life..

When truth and reason cannot be heard, then must presumption rule..

Words are seductive and dangerous material, to be used with caution..

Nothing sickens me more than the closed door of a library..

His (Deschamps') complaint of court life was the same as is made of government at the top in any age: it was composed of hypocrisy, flattery, lying, ….