Robert Caro
Robert Caro
Robert Allan Carois an American journalist and author known for his celebrated biographies of United States political figures Robert Moses and Lyndon B. Johnson...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionJournalist
Date of Birth30 October 1935
CityNew York City, NY
CountryUnited States of America
zero book writing
I don't think of my books as being biographies. I never had any interest in doing a book just to write the life of a great man. I had zero interest in that. My interest is in power. How power works.
wonderful sometimes something-new
As you get older, you sometimes feel that it's harder and harder to get something new and wonderful to come into your life.
believe book taught
We're taught Lord Acton's axiom: all power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. I believed that when I started these books, but I don't believe it's always true any more. Power doesn't always corrupt. Power can cleanse. What I believe is always true about power is that power always reveals.
book understanding important
I've always felt that no one understands why some books of non-fiction endure and some don't, because there's not much understanding among many non-fiction writers that the narrative is terribly important.
guy political biographies
You can use a biography to examine political power, but only if you pick the right guy.
party years two
Everyone believed the Senate could not really be led. It used to take so long to rise up through seniority. In two years Lyndon Johnson is assistant leader of his party. In four years he is the leader of his party.
choices political democracy
In a democracy, supposedly we hold power by what we do at the ballot box, so therefore the more we know about political power the better our choices should be and the better, in theory, our democracy should be.
political politician criteria
Herman Brown was a businessman who wanted value for money spent. His relationships with politicians were measured by that criterion.
beautiful ballet faces
Sometimes during a ballet I'll look around and see all these rows of intent faces, concentrating on this beautiful thing up on the stage.
dance ballet sometimes
The ballet embodies the notes of music. And sometimes you almost feel like you can see the notes dance up there on the stage.
new-experiences harder
I like new ballets because they're totally new. As you get older, new experiences are harder and harder to come by, so it's pretty great to have a new experience.
rose ballet firsts
The moment the curtain rose on that first ballet, I knew something wonderful and new had come into my life. I can still see the first scene. The ballet was Divertimento No. 15
mind quality fiction
To my mind, the prose in a non-fiction work that's going to endure has to be of the same quality as the prose in a work of fiction that endures.
writing long afternoon
I used to work very long hours. Then I started to realize that the stuff that I was writing in the late afternoons, I was generally throwing out. So I quit earlier than I used to.