Mary Beard quotes:

Action without study is fatal....

There's a difference between what I would like to have been and what I would have been. I always fantasized about being a reforming judge or prison governor (I think that the UK penal system is a disgrace) - but it's fantasy.

Fame is fickle. If the media turn against me, I will just have more time in the library. Not bad as a fate.

If being a decent soul is being maternal, then fine. I'll call it human.