Our historic imagination is at best slightly developed. We generalise and idealise the past egregiously. We set up little toys to stand as symbols for centuries and the complicated lives of countless individuals. – John Dewey, Characters and Events

In the tumult of men and events, solitude was my temptation now it is my friend. What other satisfaction can be sought once you have confronted History? – Charles de Gaulle

The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much it is whether we provide enough for those who have little. – Franklin D. Roosevelt