Jennifer

“The charge of the Light Brigade was forever memorialized as a moment of glorious sacrifice, as needless slaughters ordered by shortsighted generals so often are.”
― Julia Baird, Victoria the Queen: An Intimate Biography of the Woman Who Ruled an Empire

“Helping someone else is the best way to ensure your own survival. It takes you out of yourself. It helps you to rise above your fears. Now you’re a rescuer, not a victim. And seeing how your leadership and skill buoy others up gives you more focus and energy to persevere. The cycle reinforces itself: You buoy them up, and their response buoys you up. Many people who survive alone report that they were doing it for someone else (a wife, boyfriend, mother, son) back home.”
― Laurence Gonzales, Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why

“(As he once told her, “a long closely connected train of reasoning is like a beautiful strain of music.”)”
― Julia Baird, Victoria the Queen: An Intimate Biography of the Woman Who Ruled an Empire

“An effective tsar could be harsh provided he was consistently harsh. Rulers are often killed not for brutality but for inconsistency.”
― Simon Sebag Montefiore, The Romanovs: 1613-1918