Every president has to live with the result of what Lyndon Johnson did with Vietnam, when he lost the trust of the American people in the presidency.

At the ballet, you really feel like you're in the presence of something outside the rest of your life. Higher than the rest of your life.

I never wanted to do biography just to tell the life of a famous man. I always wanted to use the life of a man to examine political power, because democracy shapes our lives

The Senate is an unknowing world

Power doesn't always corrupt. Power can cleanse. What I believe is always true about power is that power always reveals.

Robert Moses wasn't elected to anything. We're taught that in a democracy power comes from being elected. He had more power than anyone, and he held it for 48 years

The moment the curtain rose on that first ballet, I knew something wonderful and new had come into my life. I can still see the first scene. The ballet was Divertimento No. 15

The New York City Ballet is obviously speaking to a whole new generation and bringing it the same wonder and beauty that it brought previous generations

Ballet is sort of a mystery to me. And I don't want to unravel that mystery.

I deliberately made an effort not to become an expert on the ballet.

I don't think of my books as being biographies. I never had any interest in doing a book just to write the life of a great man. I had zero interest in that. My interest is in power. How power works.

I acknowledged that God is the sovereign Lord and I gave myself up completely. I guess it’s a little bit like committing suicide, only with a higher purpose.

Spring is the fountain of love for thirsty winter

Lend me your wings, bird. I'll spread them and fly on the thermals.

Even so, I must admire your skill. You are so gracefully insane.

It occurred to me that eating is the only form of professionalism most people ever attain.

Do you know how to wrap a leg?" "I was born wrapping legs," I say stiffly, because I'm insulted. "Must've been a challenging delivery," Sean notes.

It really don't matter what you're thinking about, as long as you're thinking about something.

Historians are dangerous and capable of turning everything upside down. They have to be watched.

Art will not solve your problems. It will not enable you to live merrily.

Next time you meet a 'foreigner', remember it's only like a window with a different shape to it and the person who's sitting inside is you.