"When you have really exhausted an experience you always reverence and love it."

"An intellectual is someone whose mind watches itself."

"We turn toward God only to obtain the impossible."

"The simplest truths often reveal that the true master is an eternal student."

"There have been only 268 of the past 3,421 years free of war."

"A book has got smell. A new book smells great. An old book smells even better. An old book smells like ancient Egypt."

"I will not speak with disrespect of the Republican Party. I always speak with respect of the past."

"One of the consequences of the Iranian revolution has been an explosion of history. A country once known only from British consular reports and intrepid travelogues is now awash with historical documents, letters, diaries, grainy video, weblogs and secret police files of questionable authenticity."