The belief in the possibility of a short decisive war appears to be one of the most ancient and dangerous of human illusions. - Robert Wilson Lynd

The art of writing history is the art of emphasizing the significant facts at the expense of the insignificant. And it is the same in every field of knowledge. Knowledge is power only if a man knows what facts not to bother about.

In order to see birds it is necessary to become a part of the silence. One has to sit still like a mystic and wait. One soon learns that fussing, instead of achieving things, merely prevents things from happening. To be passive is in some circumstances the most efficient form of activity. You cannot command events: you can only put yourself in the place where events will happen to you. No impatient man has ever seen Nature.

Most of us can remember a time when a birthday — especially if it was one's own — brightened the world as if a second sun had risen.