JFK had a way of grabbing grandeur from mishap.

While JFK had made the sale on a political level, he had not yet completed it on an emotional one.

Organizing a coup was not the same as wanting one.

John F. Kennedy responded, as he often did when at his best, skillfully mixing dollops of wit with, self-deprecation, and the principle of not-really-going-near-the-question.

Nixon was by nature a excluder. Halderman like to exclude people. When Nixon's need met Halderman's abilities, you had the most perfect formula for disaster. – Jim Shepley

Richard Nixon coveted, to the point of obsession, a controversy-free, stage-managed coronation.

Nixon wanted view and advice brought to him through intermediaries. He wanted information filtered as it came to him – and he wanted his filters to filter his will back to those whom he must direct.

Eisenhower on LBJ: "He hadn't got the depth of mind nor the breath vision to carry great responsibility.

Henry Cabot Lodge was like medicine, good for you, but hard to take. – Teddy White

The author's alliterative description of politics since the 1960 presidential debates: "Government by Gotcha".

Jack Kennedy protected a mature and presidential image – tough, yet not unduly combative.

Precisely at the point when you begin to develop a conscience you must find yourself at war with your society.

People that are jealous and envious of you are too freaking lazy to step up their own game.

A revised schedule is to business what a new season is to an athlete or a new canvas to an artist.

We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.

The separation of psychology from the premises of biology is purely artificial, because the human psyche lives in indissoluble union with the body.

He trailed off as he saw the books. Piles and stacks of them beside the sofa, another stack on the coffee table, a sea of them on her dining table. Jesus Christ, Dane, you need treatment.

Comedy, your funny bone, is formed in childhood.

I never really make a film unless I feel like it's going to be personal and intimate, but also relevant to the audience.

Recovery is a bit like an addiction; you take it day by day. If you set yourself too many goalposts, you'll have problems.

Flattery works like a drug.