It is not the literal past, the "facts" of history, that shape us, but images of the past embodied in read more

It is not the literal past, the "facts" of history, that shape us, but images of the past embodied in language.

I saw Chungking for the first time more than 40 years ago - a city of hills and mists, of read more

I saw Chungking for the first time more than 40 years ago - a city of hills and mists, of grays and lavenders, two rivers shaping it to a point and the cliff rising above me like a challenge.

I cannot lead you into battle. I do not give you laws or administer justice but I can do something read more

I cannot lead you into battle. I do not give you laws or administer justice but I can do something else - I can give my heart and my devotion to these old islands and to all the peoples of our brotherhood of nations.

The greatest inventions were produced in the times of ignorance, as the use of the compass, gunpowder, and printing.

The greatest inventions were produced in the times of ignorance, as the use of the compass, gunpowder, and printing.

If one morning I walked on top of the water across the Potomac River, the headline that afternoon would read: read more

If one morning I walked on top of the water across the Potomac River, the headline that afternoon would read: "President Can't Swim.".

Fear of serious injury alone cannot justify oppression of free speech and assembly. Men feared witches and burnt women. It read more

Fear of serious injury alone cannot justify oppression of free speech and assembly. Men feared witches and burnt women. It is the function of speech to free men from the bondage of irrational fears.

History is a pack of lies about events that never happened told by people who weren't there.

History is a pack of lies about events that never happened told by people who weren't there.

We will hereafter believe less history than ever, now that we have seen how it is made.

We will hereafter believe less history than ever, now that we have seen how it is made.

The past grows gradually around one, like a placenta for dying.

The past grows gradually around one, like a placenta for dying.