An Adult Friend Of Lincoln's: "life Was

What I Learned, More Than Anything, Was That You Can't Have It All Balanced Perfectly At Any One Time. When I Was Young, It Was Much More Balanced Toward Work. When I Had My Children, It Was Much More Balanced Toward Love And Family, And I Didn't Get A Lot Of Work Done. So You Can't Ask Of It To Be Perfectly Balanced At Any Time, But Your Hope Is, Before You Die, You've Somehow Had Each Of Those Spheres Come To Life. That's Probably More Important Than Success In Any One Of Those Spheres Alone.

The Turn Of The Century Was The Age Of The Banker, So Much So That The Leading Bankers Of The Day Had Become Legendary Figures In The Public Imagination-vast, Overshadowing Behemoths Whose Colossal Power Seemed To Reach Everywhere.

What I Think I've Learned Is That You're Never Going To Get It All Right, And You Can't Obsess About Having A Fact Wrong Or A Date Wrong Or Something Like That, As Long As You Tried As Best You Could. If You've Done The Kind Of Research That You're Sure Is Pretty Good, Then You Just Have To Have Confidence In It, So That Nothing Is Perfect In Life. I Think That Is What The Criticism Has Helped Me To Understand.

I Think If I Were Reading To A Grandchild, I Might Read Tolstoy's War And Peace. They Would Learn About Russia, They Would Learn About History, They Would Learn About Human Nature. They Would Learn About, "can The Individual Make A Difference Or Is It Great Forces?" Tolstoy Is Always Battling With Those Large Issues. Mostly, A Whole World Would Come Alive For Them Through That Book.

I Shall Always Be Grateful For This Curious Love Of History, Allowing Me To Spend A Lifetime Looking Back Into The Past, Allowing Me To Learn From These Large Figures About The Struggle For Meaning For Life.