Washington Was A Typical American. Napoleon Was

When I Look At What A Writer Owes To The Reader, It's Critical To Know That Everything You're Writing About Is Not Made Up In Your Head. I Feel That Unless You Can Document And Be Certain About What It Is That You're Writing About, The Reader Is Going To Lose Faith In Your Own Integrity.

I Think If I Were Reading To A Grandchild, I Might Read Tolstoy's War And Peace. They Would Learn About Russia, They Would Learn About History, They Would Learn About Human Nature. They Would Learn About, "can The Individual Make A Difference Or Is It Great Forces?" Tolstoy Is Always Battling With Those Large Issues. Mostly, A Whole World Would Come Alive For Them Through That Book.

I Now Rely On A Scanner, Which Reproduces The Passages I Want To Cite, And Then I Keep My Own Comments On Those Books In A Separate File So That I Will Never Confuse The Two Again.

You Can Be Enormously Effective For A Period Of Time, Because It's Almost Like There's An Engine In You That Needs To Keep Going, And You Have A Greater Drive Than Other People - Who May Be More Happy And Balanced In Life - Because You Have To Keep Going Out And Proving Yourself Over And Over Again.

I Think Confidence Comes From Doing Something Well, Working At It Hard, And You Build It Up. It's Not Something You're Born With. You Have To Build The Confidence As You Go Along.