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. – Robert Caro
I was trying to learn about Lyndon Johnson when he was young and creating his first political machine in the Texas hill country. I moved there for three years. You had to learn that world. – Robert Caro
Lyndon Johnson, as majority leader of the United States Senate, he made the Senate work. – Robert Caro
I sometimes feel that if your book sells more than 20 years, then there’s something in it that you can say, gee, I did something that endures, that’s timeless. – Robert Caro
I am trying to make clear through my writing something which I believe: that biography- history in general- can be literature in the deepest and highest sense of that term. – Robert Caro
I really wanted there to be something in my life that I enjoy just for the beauty of it. – Robert Caro
At the ballet, you really feel like you’re in the presence of something outside the rest of your life. Higher than the rest of your life. – Robert Caro
As you get older, you sometimes feel that it’s harder and harder to get something new and wonderful to come into your life. – Robert Caro
Everything seems to be going faster and faster. It’s really harder to create something that endures. The New York City Ballet has succeeded in doing that. – Robert Caro
You come in off the street, through the doors of the theater. You sit down. The lights go down and the curtain goes up. And you’re in another world. – Robert Caro
Long Island is shaped the way it is largely because of Robert Moses. Long Island is a perfect example of how political power shapes people’s lives every day. – Robert Caro
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. – Robert Caro
There used to be this feeling under Eisenhower and Kennedy and Roosevelt and Truman that government was a solution. Trust in the presidency fell precipitously under Johnson – real lows. And it’s never come back. It’s a trend that, if you’re liberal, is really discouraging. – Robert Caro
I never wanted to do biography just to tell the life of a famous man. I always wanted to use the life of a man to examine political power, because democracy shapes our lives. – Robert Caro
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. – Robert Caro
Robert Moses wasn’t elected to anything. We’re taught that in a democracy power comes from being elected. He had more power than anyone, and he held it for 48 years. – Robert Caro
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. – Robert Caro
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. – Robert Caro
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. – Robert Caro
You can use a biography to examine political power, but only if you pick the right guy. – Robert Caro
The ballet embodies the notes of music. And sometimes you almost feel like you can see the notes dance up there on the stage. – Robert Caro
