It may be assumed as an axiom that Providence has never gifted any political party with all of political wisdom or blinded it with all of political folly. – John George Nicolay
The historian must have some conception of how men who are not historians behave. Otherwise he will move in a world of the dead. He can only gain that conception through personal experience, and he can only use his personal experiences when he is a genius. – E. M. Forster