THE old man died beneath the wheels of the twentieth century. There was nothing left but stains, bloodstains and fragments of flesh . . . And the same thing is happening to my generation.

A perfect character might be attended with the inconvenience of being envied and hated; and that a benevolent man should allow a few faults in himself, to keep his friends in countenance.

I have aspirations of making a big, historical epic. I don't know if I'll ever get the money to do it.

Year in and year out, under the guise of the Ridiculous, we attempt the Sublime.

I started reading the big histories and the small histories, the memoirs and so forth. At some point, I found the diary of William E. Dodd.

Do not mind anything that anyone tells you about anyone else. Judge everyone and everything for yourself.

Perverseness is your whole defence.

Experience is a funny thing. You dont always have it when you need it.

The only long-term motivation is self motivation. So hire people who are self motivated and get out of their way.

My parents gave up a lot to bring me up in the little house on the prairie, and I wasn't prepared to make those sacrifices, nor was the generation before me and the generation after.

Religion and art spring from the same root and are close kin.