Few things reveal more about political leaders and their systems than the manner of their downfall.

To begin impatiently is the worst mistake a writer can make

If you smash a city when you're trying to capture it, you actually end up providing the perfect terrain for the defenders while blocking the access for your own armoured vehicles.

I just write the sort of book that I would enjoy reading myself, a book that is both scholarly and recreates the experience of people at that time.

I believe passionately in preemptive pessimism, especially before a book comes out. I expect the worst both from reviewers and sales, and then, with any luck, I may be proved wrong.

I think it's outrageous if a historian has a 'leading thought' because it means they will select their material according to their thesis

I joined the Army in 1965 and served with the 11th Hussars, which I loved. The regiment was so relaxed - a salute was more like a friendly wave.

The duty of a historian is simply to understand and then convey that understanding, no more than that.

I feel slightly uneasy at the way historians are consulted as if history is going to repeat itself. It never does.

The British bombing of Caen beginning on D-Day in particular was stupid, counter-productive and above all very close to a war crime.

I think one of the great disasters (in military history) is the way that the Second World War has become the defining reference point for every crisis and every conflict.

Contra: Why don't you trust me honey? Wait, rather I doubt that you are in a going around.

It was a little thing, but on top of the other little things, it broke something in me.

The cadence of suffering has begun.

The Church was not left in this world to perfume the dung-heap of fallen humanity, but to take out, one by one, those who will be saved from the coming destruction.

I hoped that, you know, France wouldn't mind about, you know, the wife of their president to having a job.

It's much more important for U.S. to be able to defend against foreign attacks than it is to be able to launch successful attacks against foreign adversaries.

I invest in funds myself even though I run my own fund for my daughters.

A love story - your own, or anyone else's - is interior, hidden. It can never be accurately reported, only imagined. It is all dreams and invention. It's guesswork.

God wants to be praised for nourishing and cherishing, for He cherishes all creatures. He is not only the Creator, but He is also the Sustainer and Nourisher.

Ayn Rand more than anyone else did a fantastic job of explaining the morality of capitalism, the morality of individualism.