It's a necessary quality of a diplomat or a politician that he will compromise. Uncompromising politicians or diplomats get you into the most terrible trouble.

I think that black Africa is extremely terrifying. Black Africa can become a maelstrom of warring tribes without the outside world needing to feel the need to do anything about it.

I don't think that what's going on in Bosnia is political activity. It's partly political, but it's partly atavistic as well.

I don't look to find an educated person in the ranks of university graduates, necessarily. Some of the most educated people I know have never been near a university.

Soldiers, when committed to a task, can't compromise. It's unrelenting devotion to the standards of duty and courage, absolute loyalty to others, not letting the task go until it's been done.

The written history of the world is largely a history of warfare, because the states within which we live came into existence largely through conquest, civil strife, or struggles for independence.

The great Chinese classics have always said that it's better not to fight; that the clever man achieves his ends without violence; that a battle delayed is better than a battle fought.

The historian ought to be an educated person, writing for other educated people about something which they don't know about, but wish to know about in a way that they can understand.

There are certain wicked people in the world that you can't deal with except by force

The revival of Islam dates from the early years of the 20th century. It was brought about by their humiliation, by their sense of how low they'd fallen compared with the West.

A civilised man is someone who has discovered something more satisfying than combat.

Just a child. All this time we've feared you, sought you. And you're nothing more than a human child.

Chicago has a strange metaphysical elegance of death about it.

Democracies don't war; democracies are peaceful countries.

That religion and that nation will be blotted out of the face of the earth which pins its faith on injustice, untruth or violence.

Even the most fickle are faithful to a few bad habits.

... a faceless mass, waiting for handouts.

Once you sophisticate the in-betweens, your blacks and whites can take their solos and shine.

The destiny of humans cannot be separated from the destiny of earth.

It must require bravery to be honest all the time.

The meaning of life is found by diving deep, deep within.