Knowledge often spoils devotion.
What better preparation for a history which seeks to bring societies to life and to understand that life than to have really lived, commanded men, suffered with them and shared their joys.
If History teaches any lesson at all, it is that there are no historical lessons.
A mere collector of supposed facts is as useful as a collector of matchboxes.
It is never a waste of time to study the history of a word.
History is the daughter of time.
I, too, saw God through mud - The mud that cracked on cheeks when wretches smiled. War brought more glory to their eyes than blood, And gave their laughs more glee than shakes a child.
And I definitely do that very British thing of, take things with a pinch of salt, stiff upper lip, you know what I mean?
Hollywood was not a place I dreamed of getting to. I never could take seriously the obsession people have about being a celebrity or getting to Hollywood - I was born next door.
The clear-sighted do not rule the world, but they sustain and console it.