“To study history means submitting to chaos and nevertheless retaining ...” — Hermann Hesse Quote

“To study history means submitting to chaos and nevertheless retaining faith in order and meaning.”

“Writing is good, thinking is better. Cleverness is good, patience is better.”

“When dealing with the insane, the best method is to pretend to be sane.”

“Everything becomes a little different as soon as it is spoken out loud.”

“If only there were a dogma to believe in. Everything is contradictory, everything is tangential; there are no certainties anywhere. Everything can be interpreted one way and then again interpreted in the opposite sense. The whole of world history can be explained as development and progress and can also be seen as nothing but decadence and meaninglessness. Isn't there any truth? Is there no real and valid doctrine?" Joseph Knect said to his Music Master "there is truth, my boy. But the doctrine you desire, absolute perfect dogma that alone provides wisdom, does not exist. Nor should you long for a perfect doctrine, my friend rather, you should long for perfection in yourself. The deity is within you, not in ideas and books. Truth is lived not taught”

“You can't supervise your own history.”

“Each and every day, I take pride in my heritage and my family and community's history.”

“I love Boston. I love Fenway Park. I love Red Sox history. But in no way am I a Red Sox fan.”

“If you look at the history of Notre Dame, if you hire a coach who's been successful at another college program, they're going to be ultra successful at Notre Dame because the talent will always be there.”

“I did a book in 1996, an overview of black history. In that process I became more aware of a lot of the black inventors of the 19th century.”

“I don't deny the importance of genetics. However, the fact that I might be altruistic isn't because I have a gene for altruism; the fact that I do something for my children at some cost to myself comes from a history that has operated on me.”