Laudator Temporis Acti

Albert Jay Nock, A Journey Into Rabelais's France (New York: William Morrow and Company, 1934), p. 21:

Perhaps one gets most out of travel by starting with a strong interest in some one historical figure. The interest broadens out at once in all sorts of unsuspected directions, extends to all sorts of unlooked-for odds-and-ends, throws an attractive light on no end of queer obscure situations and people; all this by the mere force of association. It probably makes no killing difference what person it is that your interest settles on, provided it is one person only, not a group, not a school, not a period, not a theory, philosophy, religion or doctrine of any kind, but just one particular human being. Start with that interest and keep following it, and instantly your interest and knowledge begin branching out and touching all manner of points in the period, all manner of groups and schools, doctrines and tendencies; and above all they introduce you to a whole procession of other historical personages and present them by their most attractive side, so that they will never afterwards be mere storybook-figures to your imagination, but real folks. Nearly everybody likes to read biography, and this way of following up an individual actor in the drama of history is merely harvesting raw biography. You cook it as you go along, and flavour it to your own taste, which is much more interesting than having some one else cook it for you.