Author describes one monarch's impressive table but conveys a contemporary's observation, "the weightiest thing at dinner was the conversation".

Foreign policy often involved nothing more than the decision whom to make war upon.

The way to a landowner's heart was to tax gently.

The cornerstone of the Roman legionnaires' astonishing fighting spirit can be attributed to their training.

The factor that made him so powerful was also his greatest liability.

With ancient history writers most immediately in view, the author indicates "tendency to look to the virtues and vices of individuals when seeking causes.

He was a stylist, not a thinker. He spent time trying to say things in as complicated a way as possible.

Never base motivation or fear, entirely.

Reality confounds image.

Life ends with the previous thought It is resurrected with the subsequent One

I'm just a normal guy.

The situation in the film is like me going out to Venice Beach and talking to a homeless guy on the boardwalk, and 13 years later he's the president.

I'd learned a thing or two. Hope strengthens. Fear kills.

Make sure you have an edge. Know what your edge is. And have rigid risk control rules.

WhenIWasYourAge: It took a week to learn whether your photos came out okay.

It's so nice to know where you're going, in the early stages. It almost rids you of the wish to go there.

The best way to be missed when you're gone is to stand for something when you're here.

My parents were marvelously educated people.

I sincerely pray that all the members of the human family may, in the time prescribed by the Father of us all, find themselves securely established in the enjoyment of life, liberty, and happiness.