"My writing has to support more than my research habit, but I love to curl up with a book about some dusty corner of history."

"One of my great passions is the collection of historical trivia."

"If you write, one of the questions you're always trying to answer is, Where do you get your ideas? And, if you write, you know how pointless a question this is and how difficult it is to answer."

"The money can be decent, but I really don't recommend the work-for-hire route as an entry into publishing. Too many things can go wrong."

"There's no such thing as a free lunch."

"Modernism released us from the constraints of everything that had gone before with a euphoric sense of freedom."

"“There's no free will,” says the philosopher; “To hang is most unjust.” “There is no free will,” assents the officer;  “We hang because we must.”"

"Justice is the harmonious balance between individual liberty and collective good. This remains the cornerstone of personal mastery."