But to her, libraries were like hotels: secret villages inhabited by passing strangers from a thousand different worlds brought together just for a few hours.

The greatest privilege of childhood is to live totally in the present.

Stalin was formed by much more than a miserable childhood, just as the USSR was formed by much more than Marxist ideology.

Who is fit to be elected?' asked Napoleon. 'A Caesar, an Alexander only comes along once a century, so that election must be a matter of chance.

Beneath the eerie calm of these unfathomable waters were deadly whirlpools of ambition, anger and unhappiness.

The formation of Stalin’s character is particularly important because the nature of his rule was so personal.

This living stuff is a lot. Too much, and not enough. Half empty, and half full.

...as long as she was worrying about it, it probably wasn't going to happen. Like some sort of anxiety vaccine. Like watching a pot to make sure it never boiled.

Mathematics is, as it were, a sensuous logic, and relates to philosophy as do the arts, music, and plastic art to poetry.

The spider's touch, how exquisitely fine! Feels at each thread, and lives along the line.

Earth has its boundaries, but human stupidity is limitless.

Our beliefs are creating our reality.

Assumptions allow the best in life to pass you by.

Tonight we celebrate Hollywood's best and whitest, sorry... brightest.

Assurance is the fruit that grows out of the root of faith.

It's certainly true that most of my close friends are Jewish.