The past is a work of art, free of irrelevancies and loose ends.

The past is a work of art, free of irrelevancies and loose ends.

How can you be expected to govern a country that has 246 kinds of cheese?

How can you be expected to govern a country that has 246 kinds of cheese?

In a few years there will be only five kings in the world -- the King of England and the read more

In a few years there will be only five kings in the world -- the King of England and the four kings in a pack of cards.

History, a distillation of rumor.

History, a distillation of rumor.

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.

As lousy as things are now, tomorrow they will be somebody's good old days.

As lousy as things are now, tomorrow they will be somebody's good old days.

I have written too much history to have faith in it; and if anyone thinks I'm wrong, I am inclined read more

I have written too much history to have faith in it; and if anyone thinks I'm wrong, I am inclined to agree with him.

Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to read more

Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.

Any event, once it has occurred, can be made to appear inevitable by a competent historian.

Any event, once it has occurred, can be made to appear inevitable by a competent historian.