God's bureaucrat, who dressed soberly in black, read everything, ruled absolutely, thought suspiciously and acted cautiously

Philip was suspicious of the whole idea of Holy Leagues, and it was not in his nature to act spontaneously. God's bureaucrat, who dressed soberly in black, read everything, ruled absolutely, thought suspiciously and acted cautiously, was not a man to make up his mind quickly - nor to reveal his intentions prematurely

R. Crowley, Empires of the sea: the final battle for the Mediterranean, 1521-1580 (2008), 217

The planners and leaders of this conflict were astonishingly old by the standards of the time

The planners and leaders of this conflict were astonishingly old by the standards of the time. The contest for Malta brought together the collective experience of an enduring generation of potentates, admirals and generals, literally hundreds of man-years of voyages, raids and wars. Suleiman, La Valette, Don Garcia and Mustapha Pasha were all in their seventies . Turgut, preparing to sail from Tripoli, was reckoned to be eighty. Their lives stretched back to the fifteenth century. It was as if all the experience and all the war in the trackless sea had shrink to a single spot.

R. Crowley, Empires of the sea: the final battle for the Mediterranean, 1521-1580 (2008), 114-5

Travel, mountain-climbing, dabbling in occult rituals, and financing the publication of luxurious editions of his own poetry

Of all the people who frequented the Chat Blanc, no one was more bizarre nor as interesting to Maugham as Aleister Crowley. An eccentric English poet and Satanist, Crowley had inherited £40,000, which he soon exhausted on travel, mountain-climbing, dabbling in occult rituals, and financing the publication of luxurious editions of his own poetry.

R. Calder, Willie: the life of W. Somerset Maugham