“Do not read history. Read biography for it is life without theory.”

“Read no history--nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.”

“It is disappointing how people tend not to read a broad range of material. When the poets only read poetry, the historians only read history, the theorists only read theory, and the philosophers only read philosophy, we experience a clear deficiency in poetry, history, theory, and philosophy. We are far away from Renaissance human beings sculpting themselves to be full and all encompassing in knowledge and life pursuits.”

“I read a lot of history, biographies, science, and novels,' he says, ushering a reporter out the door with a hint of relief. 'I do not read management or economics.'(from an interview in the Christian Science Monitor, July 26, 1993)”

“I don’t read biographies for moral instruction, or for a history lesson. I want to know what people are saying about me.”

“For one who reads, there is no limit to the number of lives that may be lived, for fiction, biography, and history offer an inexhaustible number of lives in many parts of the world, in all periods of time.”