Maximilian Nightingale

“In Rome, I had nearly five thousand volumes in my library. By reading and re-reading them, I discovered that one hundred and fifty books, carefully chosen, give you, if not a complete summary of human knowledge, at least everything that it is useful for a man to know. I devoted three years of my life to reading and re-reading these hundred and fifty volumes, so that when I was arrested I knew them more or less by heart. In prison, with a slight effort of memory, I recalled them entirely. So I can recite to you Thucydides, Xenophon, Plutarch, Livy, Tacitus, Strada, Jornadès, Dante, Montaigne, Shakespeare,
Spinoza, Machiavelli and Bossuet; I mention only the most important …’

I have to admit that my historical work is my favourite occupation. When I go back to the past, I forget the present. I walk free and independently through history, and forget that I am a prisoner.”
― Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo

“The world offers you comfort. But you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness”
― Pope Benedict XVI

“It is likely I will die next to a pile of things I was meaning to read.”
― Lemony Snicket

“To be deep in history is to cease to be a Protestant.”
― John Henry Newman