Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
The Senate is an unknowing world
I trained myself to be organized.
The Senate is an unknowing world.
My predictions are notably inaccurate
My predictions are notably inaccurate.
My interest is in power. How power works.
I finish what I have to do in the office.
Nobody believes this, but I write very fast.
I try to have a mood or a rhythm for a chapter.
The right of a minority is so important in a democracy.
What would be the good of rushing? You want these books to last.
I think President Obama has done more than he is given credit for.
Someday a political genius will come along and make the Senate work.
I deliberately made an effort not to become an expert on the ballet.
I never went to a ballet until I was 45 years old. I don't know why.
Ballet is sort of a mystery to me. And I don't want to unravel that mystery.
There's a real feeling when you know you're getting it right. It's a physical feeling.
You can use a biography to examine political power, but only if you pick the right guy.
Lyndon Johnson, as majority leader of the United States Senate, he made the Senate work
Lyndon Johnson, as majority leader of the United States Senate, he made the Senate work.
When you have enough power to do what you always wanted to do, then you see what the guy always wanted to do.
Power doesn't always corrupt. Power can cleanse. What I believe is always true about power is that power always reveals.
As you get older, you sometimes feel that it's harder and harder to get something new and wonderful to come into your life.
The ballet embodies the notes of music. And sometimes you almost feel like you can see the notes dance up there on the stage.
Herman Brown was a businessman who wanted value for money spent. His relationships with politicians were measured by that criterion.
At the ballet, you really feel like you're in the presence of something outside the rest of your life. Higher than the rest of your life.
Sometimes during a ballet I'll look around and see all these rows of intent faces, concentrating on this beautiful thing up on the stage.
To my mind, the prose in a non-fiction work that's going to endure has to be of the same quality as the prose in a work of fiction that endures.
You have to be an extremely good reader to appreciate what a good writer is. There are some people who are completely insensitive to good writing.
You come in off the street, through the doors of the theater. You sit down. The lights go down and the curtain goes up. And you're in another world
You come in off the street, through the doors of the theater. You sit down. The lights go down and the curtain goes up. And you're in another world.
Every president has to live with the result of what Lyndon Johnson did with Vietnam, when he lost the trust of the American people in the presidency.
If things are going well, if the writing's coming along, I jump out of bed happy. And if the previous day has been bad, I get out of bed disgruntled.
If it's coming near the end of a chapter and I'm really getting into it, I tend to get up earlier and earlier, just because I'm excited to get to work.
The New York City Ballet is obviously speaking to a whole new generation and bringing it the same wonder and beauty that it brought previous generations
The New York City Ballet is obviously speaking to a whole new generation and bringing it the same wonder and beauty that it brought previous generations.
Everything seems to be going faster and faster. It's really harder to create something that endures. The New York City Ballet has succeeded in doing that.
Long Island is shaped the way it is largely because of Robert Moses. Long Island is a perfect example of how political power shapes people's lives every day.
I sometimes feel that if your book sells more than 20 years, then there's something in it that you can say, gee, I did something that endures, that's timeless
I sometimes feel that if your book sells more than 20 years, then there's something in it that you can say, gee, I did something that endures, that's timeless.
I like new ballets because they're totally new. As you get older, new experiences are harder and harder to come by, so it's pretty great to have a new experience.
Robert Moses wasn't elected to anything. We're taught that in a democracy power comes from being elected. He had more power than anyone, and he held it for 48 years
Robert Moses wasn't elected to anything. We're taught that in a democracy power comes from being elected. He had more power than anyone, and he held it for 48 years.
There's a feeling about it. You feel almost like a cabinetmaker, laying planks. There's a real feeling when you know you're getting it right. It's a physical feeling.
Most Sundays, with the exception of football Sundays, I work, because I don't take days off as long as I'm working on something that's supposed to be all in the same mood.
I am trying to make clear through my writing something which I believe: that biography- history in general- can be literature in the deepest and highest sense of that term.
I never wanted to do biography just to tell the life of a famous man. I always wanted to use the life of a man to examine political power, because democracy shapes our lives
I never wanted to do biography just to tell the life of a famous man. I always wanted to use the life of a man to examine political power, because democracy shapes our lives.
The moment the curtain rose on that first ballet, I knew something wonderful and new had come into my life. I can still see the first scene. The ballet was Divertimento No. 15
The moment the curtain rose on that first ballet, I knew something wonderful and new had come into my life. I can still see the first scene. The ballet was Divertimento No. 15.