People know they are lacking something, they are constantly wanting some kind of spiritual guidance.

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.

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

Despite this lamentable lack of balance in our education I do not believe that either children or adults in my country are permeated by a widespread hostility to Germany.

History provides no precise guidelines.

There are thus great swathes of the past where understanding is more important and reputable than judgement, because the principal actors performed in line with the ideas and values of that time, not of ours.

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

But it cannot follow that because weapons and troops are now being deployed we are bound to go to 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.

Margaret Thatcher was fearful of German unification because she believed that this would bring an immediate and formidable increase of economic strength to a Germany which was already the strongest economic partner in Europe.

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

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

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.

The first two Prime Ministers whom I served, Ted Heath and Margaret Thatcher drew strikingly different lessons from the Second World War.

I may be wrong in that, but not I think in putting the questions. In our modern democracy the government needs not a unanimous but a general support for war before it orders our forces to fight.

People know they are lacking something, they are constantly wanting some kind of spiritual guidance.

It was essentially for self defence that we went to war in Afghanistan and would go to war in Iraq.

Wisely used history can give pleasure and provide us with a useful tool; but we should not become its slaves.

No military timetable should compel war when a successful outcome, namely a disarmed Iraq may be feasible without war, for example by allowing more time to the UN inspectors.

It depends on how it is done but what we are drifting into, which is that people grow up without any sense of a spiritual dimension to life, is just impoverishing.

A genuinely democratic Iraq might well act as a fresh spur.

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

People are very interested in politics, they just don't like it labelled politics.

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.

There is nothing false or arrogant about German pride in German technical and business skills.

Prison is an expensive way of making bad people worse.

A blocked path also offers guidance.

Give people enough guidance to make the decisions you want them to make. Don't tell them what to do, but encourage them to do what is best.

There has been a most Providential Guidance which the want of prudence, vigilance, or judgement has not impeded, and it is here that we can most clearly see the designs of God.

Indeed, in the present climate of mistrust of institutions, many people who yearn for a more meaningful and fulfilling life would regard the church as an unlikely place to go for guidance.

In ten minutes, I'm thinking, 'OK, you know what? I love these guys. They're really smart, they're really good, they've got a good sense of comedy, under their guidance, I think maybe this could come out OK.' But I didn't like the part.

Lee's great gifts are teaching and inspirational guidance, not administration and management.

Deep Throat did serve the public interest by providing the guidance and information to us.

When I was five my parents bought me a ukulele for Christmas. I quickly learned how to play it with my father's guidance. Thereafter, my father regularly taught me all the good old fashioned songs.

I grew up with a lot of guys, some of them are dead, some of them are this and some of them that, and some of them very, very powerful, bright young men, who became this instead of that simply because of a lack of guidance - that's all.

When you raise issues with the President, try to come away with both that decision and also a precedent. Pose issues so as to evoke broader policy guidance. This can help to answer a range of similar issues likely to arise later.

Well, I think they're all basically the same story. Every culture in the world has them. When you strip it down and analyze it, it's the young man or girl who goes through a trial or ordeal and hits a very low ebb but manages to get guidance from a Merlin type figure.

Conscious of my own weakness, I can only seek fervently the guidance of the Ruler of the Universe, and, relying on His all-powerful aid, do my best to restore Union and peace to a suffering people, and to establish and guard their liberties and rights.

The rest, called literature, is a dossier of human imbecility for the guidance of future professors.

I think people enjoy reading about money, but the people who are in charge of giving me guidance tell me not to talk about it in interviews. Why not? That's what everybody thinks about.

He alone is free who lives with free consent under the entire guidance of reason.

No man is great enough or wise enough for any of us to surrender our destiny to. The only way in which anyone can lead us is to restore to us the belief in our own guidance.

Defining OO as based on the use of class hierarchies and virtual functions is also practical in that it provides some guidance as to where OO is likely to be successful.

You just have to have the guidance to lead you in the direction until you can do it yourself.

We read Robert Browning's poetry. Here we needed no guidance from the professor: the poems themselves were enough.

If a belief is not realized immediately in open deeds, it is stored up for the guidance of the future.

Americans of our own time - minority and majority Americans alike - need the continued guidance that the Voting Rights Act provides. We have come a long way, but more needs to be done.

I've always found it not only easy, but enjoyable. It's necessary for us to reach out and I'm speaking for myself here. I certainly have a sense of responsibility to reach out to these people in the theatre who might look to someone like me for some guidance.

It is sometimes easier to head an institute for the study of child guidance than it is to turn one brat into a decent human being.