I think to be shot in a mountain valley somewhere or other is altogether less glorious than crashing an airliner into a skyscraper.

I don't think that what's going on in Bosnia is political activity. It's partly political, but it's partly atavistic as well.

Men killing other men really is an extraordinary phenomenon. Why does it happen? And how long has it gone on? And have the motives changed?

I think to be shot in a mountain valley somewhere or other is altogether less glorious than crashing an airliner into a skyscraper.

Nobody should teach anywhere for 25 years, but I did.

The revival of Islam dates from the early years of the 20th century. It was brought about by their humiliation, by their sense of how low they'd fallen compared with the West.

If Wellington epitomizes the English gentleman, Eisenhower epitomizes the natural American gentleman.

The great Chinese classics have always said that it's better not to fight; that the clever man achieves his ends without violence; that a battle delayed is better than a battle fought.

I think that black Africa is extremely terrifying. Black Africa can become a maelstrom of warring tribes without the outside world needing to feel the need to do anything about it.

I think Americans like the practical; they like the human. And I like both those things myself, and I try and put them into my books.

There are certain wicked people in the world that you can't deal with except by force.

Good men who exercise power are really the most fascinating of all people.

It's commonly said that people who've been ill in childhood and who've had an upset education never really regret that they do. It means that you don't look at the world in the way that other people do, and if you were inclined to be a writer, that's a help.

The great men of power who seek to change the nations they belong to usually are pretty terrible people.

The Islam of the 18th, 19th and first half of the 20th century was a poor thing. Nobody bothered about it. Islam was that funny sort of pure system of beliefs that depressed people in the Middle East held as their religion.

It's a necessary quality of a diplomat or a politician that he will compromise. Uncompromising politicians or diplomats get you into the most terrible trouble.

I can't visualize the situation in which we nuke ourselves into extinction.

We may have to have a geo-political regrouping or major geo-political changes.

Even a pacifist should admire the military virtues.

I don't look to find an educated person in the ranks of university graduates, necessarily. Some of the most educated people I know have never been near a university.

Well, if they are trying to kill you, on the whole they're the people you have to kill, aren't they?

The leader of men in warfare can show himself to his followers only through a mask, a mask that he must make for himself, but a mask made in such form as will mark him to men of his time and place as the leader they want and need.

Some people are more terrorist than others.

Soldiers, when committed to a task, can't compromise. It's unrelenting devotion to the standards of duty and courage, absolute loyalty to others, not letting the task go until it's been done.

Proteins are the machinery of living tissue that builds the structures and carries out the chemical reactions necessary for life.

People's faith, people's beliefs are such a personal thing, and it defies definition. I'm so rarely interested in discussing what I believe or what you believe. I think it's liquid, anyway.

I find people interesting. People trying hard are interesting. People with a passion are interesting - whether it's old cars or taxidermy or knitting.

There is a great demand everywhere in the world for individual mobility. People like the fact they are not on somebody else's schedule. They can come and go as they please.

Our staff not only received the reports from these agencies, they examined them. They questioned them.

Looking at faces of people, one gets the feeling there's a lot of work to be done.

I have not written a perfect sentence, in the literary sense. It's a lot easier to throw a perfect pass than to write a perfect sentence, if that sentence is meant to perform more than a mechanical function.

I'm very careful in the sunshine.

At some point in my life, before I was gone, I wanted to make an album, even if it was for no reason other than posterity.

The wild, cruel animal is not behind the bars of a cage. He is in front of it.

Part of the problem in today's world is that many men are taught that they have to 'make it' before they should even consider committed to a healthy partnership.

I used to hunt and fish.

Beyond all our Blackberries and iPhones, we're dangerously separated from our food and water supplies.

Often and often must he have thought, that, to be or not to be forever, was a question, which must be settled; as it is the foundation, and the only foundation upon which we feel that there can rest one thought, one feeling, or one purpose worthy of a human soul.

Days off are few and far between in the restaurant business. But on an hour off, I like to have a glass of wine with my wife.

Walking is a very underestimated exercise in North America. It's all run hard, lift weights and push your body, but walking is wonderful for elongating the body and posture.

Letting go of your ego opens the door to taking a new and creative course of action.

I have always looked up to my brothers. They are a huge influence on me. We constantly text and Facebook each other to give each other support. And we all hang out at home when we are in town together.

Some argue that recognition of the genocide has become even more problematic now, when the world is at war with terrorism and the United States cannot afford to offend the sensibility of our Turkish ally.

Five days after the Tsarnaev brothers blew up Boston's most sacred event, and just 24 hours after one brother was killed and the other was caught, everyone decided that it was OK to play baseball at Fenway again. The game happened on a Saturday afternoon, preceded by an emotional ceremony and many prayers.

I like funny girls.

Every production of genius must be the production of enthusiasm.

Cyber-enabled theft of trade secrets by state actors in China has emerged as a major threat to our economic and, thus, national security.

Say what you have to say, not what you ought. Any truth is better than make-believe.