Prison is an expensive way of making bad people worse.

There is no consensus even today on the merits of Napoleon - and certainly no agreement on the rights and wrongs of the origins of the First World War.

Men like Hitler and Stalin and their immediate lieutenants cannot plead in defence of their actions that these were justified by the accepted values of that time.

We, Britain and Germany, can neither of us be happy about our handling of the Iraq war.

Margaret Thatcher, growing up in a bombed and battered Britain, derived a distrust which has grown with the years not just of Germany but of all continental Europe.

It is normal for politicians in all countries to profess themselves the pupils of history, anxious to draw the right lessons from her teaching.

History provides no precise guidelines.

But Germany will always suffer, I fear, from the intensely dramatic character of the crimes of the Third Reich.

We should be wary of politicians who profess to follow history while only noticing those signposts of history that point in the direction which they themselves already favour.

We must admit that history is enjoyable to a large extent because it enables us to pass judgment on the past.

The tragedy of 9/11 galvanised the American superpower into action, leaving us in Europe divided in its wake.

All teachings are mere references. The true experience is living your own life. Then, even the holiest of words are only words.

She's never really wanted to be the only person, she's never been such a fan of being alone.

i hate that its my favorite thing to watch her, because it shouldn't be. It triggers all these what-ifs in my head, and my mind begins imagining things it shouldn't be imagining...

We must let go of those things that don’t serve us. In order to receive the blessings intended for us, we have to make room for them.

why something and not nothing? why music and not noise?

Writing a book makes you an expert in the field. At the very least, when you hand someone a book you wrote, it's more impressive than handing a business card.

I think the majority of the British people are still sanguine about the need for war.

...go in the direction your head is pointed in.

My greatest regret as a writer is that I've never been able to include as many jokes as I'd like.

My parents did love each other. Enough to forsake plans and factions. Enough to defy “faction before blood.” Blood before faction--no, love before faction, always. - Tris Prior