No man can be a Politician, except he be first an Historian or a Traveller; for except he can see what Must be, or what May be, he is no Politician: Now, if he have no knowledge in story, he cannot tell what hath been; and if he that not been a Traveller, he cannot tell what is: but he that neither knoweth what hath been, nor what is; can never tell what must be, or what may be. - James Harrington, THE COMMONWEALTH OF OCEANA, 1656
Matthew Continetti in today's Weekly Standard online:
Tom Wolfe, lamenting the current state of American fiction: "Writers come from master-of-fine-arts programs now. If you add up the college education of Steinbeck, Hemingway and Faulkner, you get to spring break of freshman year."