"The fact is that America has been at her most prosperous when government and the private sector have been not at war, but in a wary, if often underplayed, alliance. History is unmistakable on this point."

"The power of the American system of republicanism lies in its capacity to allow religious belief to be a competing, not a controlling, factor in American life."

"The past always seems somehow more golden, more serious, than the present. We tend to forget the partisanship of yesteryear, preferring to re-imagine our history as a sure and steady march toward greatness."

"From Jefferson to Jackson to Lincoln to FDR to Reagan, every great president inspires enormous affection and enormous hostility. We'll all be much saner, I think, if we remember that history is full of surprises and things that seemed absolutely certain one day are often unimaginable the next."

"If I advocate cautious optimism it is not because I do not have faith in the future but because I do not want to encourage blind faith."

"I put instant coffee in a microwave oven and almost went back in time."

"The river of time washes away kings and empires, leaving only virtue intact. Remember this in moments of decisive trial — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"Everybody thinks making films back to back is a big deal but they did it all the time in the old days."