Discover a wealth of wisdom and insight from David Mccullough through their most impactful and thought-provoking quotes and sayings. Expand your perspective with their inspiring words and share these beautiful David Mccullough quote pictures with your friends and followers on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, or your personal blog - all free of charge. We've compiled the top 432 David Mccullough quotes for you to explore and share with others.

Scratching off a postcard to Charlie Taylor, Orville expressed the same spirit in a lighter vein. Flying machine market has been very unsteady the past two days. Opened yesterday morning at about 208 (100% means even chance of success) but by noon had dropped to 110. These fluctuations would have produced a panic, I think, in Wall Street, but in this quiet place it only put us to thinking and figuring a little. By David Mccullough Taylor Orville Charlie Scratching Vein

On Christmas morning when I was a child, my mother would leave a book wrapped at the foot of the bed, which was a hint that Santa had come. It was also her way of keeping us in bed a little longer before we went downstairs. So I've always associated books with happiness and gifts. And they are. I can't get enough of them. By David Mccullough Christmas Santa Child Bed Morning

reputedly consulted with the spirit of a dead Sioux Indian chief. By David Mccullough Sioux Indian Reputedly Chief Consulted

One August morning at Blair House, he read in the papers that the body of an American soldier killed in action, Sergeant John Rice, had been brought home for burial in Sioux City, Iowa, but that at the last moment, as the casket was to be lowered into the grave, officials of the Sioux City Memorial Park had stopped the ceremony because Sergeant Rice, a Winnebago Indian, was not "a member of the Caucasian race" and burial was therefore denied. Outraged, Truman picked up the phone. Within minutes, by telephone and telegram, it was arranged that Sergeant Rice would be buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors and that an Air Force plane was on the way to bring his widow and three children to Washington. That, as President, was the least he could do. By David Mccullough Sioux City Sergeant Rice Iowa

Well, all the President is, is a glorified public relations man who spends his time flattering, kissing and kicking people to get them do what they are supposed to do anyway. Truman By David Mccullough President Flattering Kissing Truman Glorified

Of those who had been eyewitnesses at Kill Devil Hills the morning of the 17th, John T. Daniels was much the most effusive about what he had felt. "I like to think about it now," he would say in an interview years later. "I like to think about that first airplane the way it sailed off in the air . . . as pretty as any bird you ever laid your eyes on. I don't think I ever saw a prettier sight in my life." But it would never have happened, Daniels also stressed, had it not been for the two "workingest boys" he ever knew. It wasn't luck that made them fly; it was hard work and common sense; they put their whole heart and soul and all their energy into an idea and they had the faith. By David Mccullough John Kill Devil Hills Felt

You are not singular in your suspicions that you know but little," he had told Caroline, in response to her quandary over the riddles of life. "The longer I live, the more I read, the more patiently I think, and the more anxiously I inquire, the less I seem to know. . . . Do justly. Love mercy. Walk humbly. This is enough. . . . So questions and so answers your affectionate grandfather." Adams By David Mccullough Caroline Life Singular Suspicions Told

By the time he went to work for James J. Hill in 1889, he had survived Mexican fevers, Indian attack, Upper Michigan mosquitoes, and Canadian blizzards. He had been treed by wolves on one occasion; he By David Mccullough Indian Upper James Hill Mexican

Here, I say, I have amused myself in reading and thinking of my absent friend, sometimes with a mixture of pain, sometimes with pleasure, sometimes anticipating a joyful and happy meeting, whilst my heart would bound and palpitate with the pleasing idea, and with the purest affection I have held you to my bosom 'til my whole soul has dissolved in tenderness and my pen fallen from my hand. How often do I reflect with pleasure that I hold in possession a heart equally warm with my own, and fully as susceptible of the tenderest impressions, and who even now whilst he is reading here, feels all I describe. By David Mccullough Pleasure Friend Pain Meeting Idea

Once, during the Siege of Boston, when almost nothing was going right and General Schuyler had written from Albany to bemoan his troubles, Washington had replied that he understood but that "we must bear up against them, and make the best of mankind as they are, since we cannot have them as we wish." It was such resolve and an acceptance of mankind and circumstances as they were, not as he wished them to be, that continued to carry Washington through. "I will not however despair," he now wrote to Governor William Livingston. By David Mccullough Boston Siege General Schuyler Albany

Later that same spring of 1872, in his own annual report, Roebling would write that most men got over their troubles either by suffering for a long time or "by applying the heroic mode of returning into the caisson at once as soon as pains manifested themselves. By David Mccullough Roebling Report Spring Annual Write

I feel very strongly that history is about everything. It isn't just about politics or the military or social issues. If art, music, engineering, science, medicine, finance, the world of architecture and technology - if those are left out, then you're not getting a full sense of the human condition. History is human and we human beings are involved in all kinds of things and that's part of our humanity. By David Mccullough Feel Strongly Human History Music

And it's so easy because you become so self-conscious and so intellectual and so analytical about it in the long run that you lose that wonderful sort of ego that you have that says, 'Oh, goddamn it, I don't care; I love it anyway; I'm going to do it! By David Mccullough Goddamn Care Easy Selfconscious Intellectual

You must be frank with the world; frankness is the child of honesty and courage. Say just what you mean to do on every occasion, and take it for granted you mean to do right. . . . Never do anything wrong to make a friend or keep one; the man who requires you to do so, is dearly purchased at a sacrifice. Deal kindly, but firmly with all your classmates; you will find it the policy which wears best. Above all do not appear to others what you are not. By David Mccullough World Frankness Courage Frank Child

You can make the argument that there's no such thing as the past. Nobody lived in the past. They lived in the present. It is their present, not our present, and they don't know how it's going to come out. They weren't just like we are because they lived in that very different time. You can't understand them if you don't understand how they perceived reality. By David Mccullough Past Lived Present Make Argument

It was in fact during the month of May 1889 that Carnegie was finishing up a magazine article to become known as "The Gospel of Wealth," in which he said, and much to the consternation of his Pittsburgh associates, "The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced." The gist of the article was that the rich, like the poor, would always be with us. The present system had its inequities, certainly, and many of them were disgraceful. But the system was a good deal better than any other so far. The thing for the rich man to do was to divide his life into two parts. The first part should be for acquisition, the second for distribution. At By David Mccullough Dies Wealth Carnegie Gospel Pittsburgh

The year of the birth of Israel, the year of the Republican tax cut and the Truman Balcony, would be remembered also as the year green (chlorophyll) chewing gum became a fad, the year of a new word game called "Scrabble," of tail fins on Cadillacs, and an unimaginably daring new bathing suit called the bikini, after the island where the atomic bomb tests were carried out the summer before. By David Mccullough Year Scrabble Called Israel Balcony

I think that a good education ought to be in part the idea that ease and joy are not synonymous. Some of the most fulfilling pleasures of life are to be found in work - found in work you love to do, work you want to do, work that makes you want to get out of bed in the morning. By David Mccullough Work Synonymous Good Education Part

Unfaithfulness in public stations is deeply criminal [he wrote to Abigail]. But there is no encouragement to be faithful. Neither profit, nor honor, nor applause is acquired by faithfulness. . . . There is too much corruption, even in this infant age of our Republic. Virtue is not in fashion. Vice is not infamous. By David Mccullough Abigail Unfaithfulness Criminal Public Stations

In no way did any of this discourage or deter Wilbur and Orville Wright, any more than the fact that they had had no college education, no formal technical training, no experience working with anyone other than themselves, no friends in high places, no financial backers, no government subsidies, and little money of their own. Or By David Mccullough Wright Wilbur Orville Education Training

The bicycle was proclaimed a boon to all mankind, a thing of beauty, good for the spirits, good for health and vitality, indeed one's whole outlook on life. Doctors enthusiastically approved. One Philadelphia physician, writing in The American Journal of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children, concluded from his observations that for physical exercise for both men and women, the bicycle is one of the greatest inventions of the nineteenth century. By David Mccullough Good Mankind Beauty Spirits Vitality

Crucial to Lee's plan was the defense of that part of Long Island directly across the East River and particularly the imposing river bluffs near the tiny hamlet called Brooklyn, which was also spelled Breucklyn, Brucklyn, Broucklyn, Brookland, or Brookline, and amounted to no more than seven or eight houses and an old Dutch church that stood in the middle of the Jamaica Road, the main road inland from the Brooklyn ferry landing. By David Mccullough Brooklyn River Road Brucklyn Broucklyn

When you start to write, things begin to come into focus in a way they don't when you're not writing. It's a very good way to find out how much you don't know because you learn specifically what you need to know that you don't know at the moment by writing. By David Mccullough Writing Write Things Start Begin

the evolutions of the bird on the wing are quite as safe and infinitely more rapid and beautiful than the movements of either the quadruped on the land or the fish in the water. By David Mccullough Water Evolutions Bird Wing Safe

Pen, ink, and paper and a sitting posture are great helps to attention and thinking. By David Mccullough Pen Ink Thinking Paper Sitting

When a friend of Abigail and John Adams was killed at Bunker Hill, Abigail's response was to write a letter to her husband and include these words, "My bursting heart must find vent at my pen. By David Mccullough Hill Abigail John Adams Bunker

He always kept three books at hand - one scientific, one of classical literature or history, one light fiction - which he took up in turn, giving each exactly twenty minutes according to a pocket watch placed on the table beside his chair. In this fashion, he said, he was able to remember what he read. By David Mccullough Hand Scientific History Fiction Turn

He was the first one on deck in the morning and generally the last to leave at night, and once, when nearly every passenger was miserably seasick and lay groaning in his berth, Roebling, his head spinning, his stomach churning, was resolutely walking the deck. The malady, he rationalized, "involves no danger at all," noting that "a cheerful carefree disposition and a manly, vigorous spirit will have great influence on the sickness." For By David Mccullough Roebling Deck Night Berth Spinning

Love of learning will never let you down. You can have a quest for money, you can have a quest for power, you can have a quest for fame and they are sometimes gratifying and sometimes self-destructive. The love of learning is always gratifying and never self-destructive. The more educated, the more cultivated a society becomes, better off is everybody. By David Mccullough Quest Selfdestructive Love Learning Gratifying

We all know the old expression, "I'll work my thoughts out on paper." There's something about the pen that focuses the brain in a way that nothing else does. That is why we must have more writing in the schools, more writing in all subjects, not just in English classes. By David Mccullough Expression Paper Work Thoughts Writing

That the hand of God was involved in the birth of the new nation he had no doubt. "It is the will of heaven that the two countries should be sundered forever." If the people now were to have "unbounded power," and as the people were quite capable of corruption as "the great," and thus high risks were involved, he would submit all his hopes and fears to an overruling providence, "in which unfashionable as the faith may be, I firmly believe. By David Mccullough God Doubt Hand Birth Nation

When the founders wrote about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, they didn't mean longer vacations and more comfortable hammocks. They meant the pursuit of learning. The pursuit of improvement and excellence. In hard work is happiness. By David Mccullough Pursuit Liberty Life Hammocks Happiness

I believe there is no one principle which predominates in human nature so much in every stage of life, from the cradle to the grave, in males and females, old and young, black and white, rich and poor, high and low, as this passion for superiority. By David Mccullough Life Grave Females Young Black

To the majority of those on the job his presence had been magical. Years afterward, the wife of one of the steam-shovel engineers, Mrs. Rose van Hardevald, would recall, "We saw him ... on the end of the train. Jan got small flags for the children, and told us about when the train would pass ... Mr. Roosevelt flashed us one of his well-known toothy smiles and waved his hat at the children ... " In an instant, she said, she understood her husband's faith in the man. "And I was more certain than ever that we ourselves would not leave until it [the canal] was finished." Two years before, they had been living in Wyoming on a lonely stop on the Union Pacific. When her husband heard of the work at Panama, he had immediately wanted to go, because, he told her, "With Teddy Roosevelt, anything is possible." At the time neither of them had known quite where Panama was located. By David Mccullough Magical Majority Job Presence Roosevelt

Rather than literally burning the midnight oil, which he judged to be unhealthy, John Adams advised his son to make the most of college by developing an inquisitive outlook that would prompt him to get to know the most exceptional scholars and question them closely. Ask them about their tutors, manner of teaching. Observe what books lie on their tables. Fall into questions of literature, science, or what you will. By David Mccullough John Adams Oil Unhealthy Closely

I work very hard on the writing, writing and rewriting and trying to weed out the lumber. By David Mccullough Lumber Writing Work Hard Rewriting

Others as well had come to see them as more than mere eccentrics. Life on the Outer Banks was harsh. Making ends meet was a constant struggle. Hard workers were greatly admired and in the words of John T. Daniels, the Wrights were "two of the workingest boys" ever seen, "and when they worked, they worked. . . . They had their whole heart and soul in what they were doing. By David Mccullough Eccentrics Worked Mere Outer Banks

Charles Sumner; A Smacking breeze has sprung up, and we shall part this company soon; and then for the Atlantic! Farewell then, my friends, my pursuits, my home, my country! Each bellying wave on its rough crest carries me away. The rocking vessel impedes my pen. And now, as my head begins slightly to reel, my imagination entertains the glorious prospects before me ... By David Mccullough Sumner Atlantic Smacking Charles Breeze

I think it's best to pick a biographical subject who lives to a ripe old age. Older people tend to relax and speak their minds. They're dropping some of the masks that they've been wearing. There's a candor. By David Mccullough Age Pick Biographical Subject Lives

Settle steadily down as a staid, sensible piece of paper ought to do, but it insists on contravening every recognized rule of decorum, turning over and darting hither and thither in the most erratic manner, much after the style of an untrained horse. This was the kind of horse, he said, that men had to learn to manage in order to fly, and there were two ways: One is to get on him and learn by actual practice how each motion and trick may be best met; the other is to sit on a fence and watch the beast a while, and then retire to the house and at leisure figure out the best way of overcoming his jumps and kicks. The latter system is the safest, but the former, on the whole, turns out the larger proportion of good riders. By David Mccullough Horse Settle Staid Decorum Turning

According to Adams, Jefferson proposed that he, Adams, do the writing [pf the Declaration of Independence], but that he declined, telling Jefferson he must do it.Why?" Jefferson asked, as Adams would recount.Reasons enough," Adams said.What can be your reasons?"Reason first: you are a Virginian and a Virginian ought to appear at the head of this business. Reason second: I am obnoxious, suspected and unpopular. You are very much otherwise. Reason third: You can write ten times better than I can. By David Mccullough Adams Independence Jefferson Declaration Virginian

Hardly a soul spoke a word of English. All this they had been forewarned about, but the difference between what one had been told and what one came to understand firsthand was enormous. By David Mccullough English Soul Spoke Word Enormous

Once upon a time in the dead of winter in the Dakota Territory, Theodore Roosevelt took off in a makeshift boat down the Little Missouri River in pursuit of a couple of thieves who had stolen his prized rowboat. After several days on the river, he caught up and got the draw on them with his trusty Winchester, at which point they surrendered. Then Roosevelt set off in a borrowed wagon to haul the thieves cross-country to justice. They headed across the snow-covered wastes of the Badlands to the railhead at Dickinson, and Roosevelt walked the whole way, the entire 40 miles. It was an astonishing feat, what might be called a defining moment in Roosevelt's eventful life. But what makes it especially memorable is that during that time, he managed to read all of Anna Karenina. I often think of that when I hear people say they haven't time to read. By David Mccullough Roosevelt Territory Theodore Dakota Missouri

One had only to look at the map to see that Panama was the proper place for the canal. The route was already well established, there was a railroad, there were thriving cities at each end. Only at Panama could a sea-level canal be built. It was really no great issue at all. Naturally there were problems. There were always problems. There had been large, formidable problems at Suez, and to many respected authorities they too had seemed insurmountable. But as time passed, as the work moved ahead at Suez, indeed as difficulties increased, men of genius had come forth to meet and conquer those difficulties. The same would happen again. For every challenge there would be a man of genius capable of meeting and conquering it. One must trust to inspiration. As for the money, there was money aplenty in France just waiting for the opening of the subscription books. By David Mccullough Panama Suez Canal Problems Map

My strong feeling is that we must learn more about how we learn. I'm convinced that we learn by struggling to find the solution to a problem on our own with some guidance, but getting in and getting our hands dirty and working it. By David Mccullough Learn Strong Feeling Guidance Convinced

One of the first problems to be faced at Niagara was how to get a wire over the gorge and its violent river. Ellet solved that nicely by offering five dollars to the first American boy to fly a kite over to the Canadian side. The prize was won by young Homer Walsh, who would tell the story for the rest of his days. Once the kite string was across, a succession of heavier cords and ropes was pulled over, and in a short time the first length of wire went on its way. After that, when the initial cable had been completed, Ellet decided to demonstrate his faith in it in a fashion people would not forget. He had an iron basket made up big enough to hold him and attached it to the cable with pulleys. Then stepping inside, on a morning in March 1848, he pulled himself over the gorge and back again, all in no more than fifteen minutes' time, and to the great excitement of crowds gathered along both rims. By David Mccullough Niagara River Ellet Problems Faced

But even if a person were ignorant of such things, the sight of a moving train held aloft above the great gorge at Niagara by so delicate a contrivance was, in the 1860's, nothing short of miraculous. The bridge seemed to defy the most fundamental laws of nature. Something so slight just naturally ought to give way beneath anything so heavy. That it did not seemed pure magic. By David Mccullough Niagara Things Miraculous Person Ignorant

Later, following the funeral, he took all the family's horses, including his own, up into one of the mountain ravines and shot them. By David Mccullough Funeral Horses Including Family Mountain

Government is nothing more than the combined force of society or the united power of the multitude for the peace, order, safety, good, and happiness of the people ... There is no king or queen bee distinguished from all the others by size or figure or beauty and variety of colors in the human hive. No man has yet produced any revelation from heaven in his favor, any divine communication to govern his fellow men. Nature throws us all into the world equal and alike ... The preservation of liberty depends upon the intellectual and moral character of the people. As long as knowledge and virtue are diffused generally among the body of a nation it is impossible they should be enslaved. Ambition is one of the more ungovernable passions of the human heart. The love of power is insatiable and uncontrollable ... There is a danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living wth power to endanger public liberty. By David Mccullough Order Safety Good Peace People

the Flyer and tossed it along the sand "just like you've seen an umbrella turned inside out and loose in the wind," remembered John By David Mccullough John Flyer Sand Wind Remembered

On July 20, 1969, when Neil Armstrong, another American born and raised in western Ohio, stepped onto the moon, he carried with him, in tribute to the Wright brothers, a small swatch of the muslin from a wing of their 1903 Flyer. By David Mccullough Flyer July Armstrong Ohio Neil

With the Truman book, I wrote the entire account of his experiences in World War I before going over to Europe to follow his tracks in the war. When I got there, there was a certain satisfaction in finding I had it right - it does look like that. By David Mccullough War Truman World Europe Book

With the situation as gray as it could be, no one was more conspicuous in his calm presence of mind than Washington. They must be "cool but determined" he had told the men before the battle, when spirits were high. Now, in the face of catastrophe, he was demonstrating what he meant by his own example. Whatever anger or torment or despair he felt, he kept to himself. By David Mccullough Washington Situation Gray Conspicuous Calm

Remove yourself, sir! By David Mccullough Sir Remove

. I want to say many things I must omit. It is not fit to wake the soul by tender strokes of art, or to ruminate upon happiness we might enjoy, lest absences become intolerable. By David Mccullough Omit Things Art Enjoy Intolerable

History is not just about dates and quotations. And it's not just about politics, the military and social issues, though much of it of course is about that. It's about everything. It's about life history. It's human. And we have to see it that way. We have to teach it that way. We have to read it that way. It's about art, music, literature, money, science, love - the human experience. By David Mccullough Quotations Dates History Human Politics

Included among the ecclesiastical works on his bedroom shelves were the writings of "The Great Agnostic," Robert Ingersoll, whom the brothers and Katharine were encouraged to read. "Every mind should be true to itself - should think, investigate and conclude for itself," wrote Ingersoll. It was the influence of Ingersoll apparently that led the brothers to give up regular attendance at church, a change the Bishop seems to have accepted without protest. By David Mccullough Agnostic Robert Ingersoll Great Katharine

If I were giving a young man advice as to how he might succeed in life, I would say to him, pick out a good father and mother, and begin life in Ohio. WILBUR WRIGHT By David Mccullough Ohio Pick Mother Life Wilbur

I feel so sorry for anyone who misses the experience of history, the horizons of history. We think little of those who, given the chance to travel, go nowhere. We deprecate provincialism. But it is possible to be as provincial in time as it is in space. Because you were born into this particular era doesn't mean it has to be the limit of your experience. Move about in time, go places. Why restrict your circle of acquaintances to only those who occupy the same stage we call the present? By David Mccullough History Feel Misses Horizons Experience

Take the teacher not the course. Find out who the great professors are - the great teachers - and take their courses because a subject that you may not think you're interested in may turn out to be infinitely fascinating because of the way it's taught. By David Mccullough Great Teacher Teachers Find Taught

I am adamant that we must not cut back on funding of the teaching of the arts in the schools: music, painting, theater, dance, all of it. The great thing about the arts is that the only way you learn how to do it is by doing it. By David Mccullough Music Painting Theater Dance Arts

1 Blue River Country As an agricultural region, Missouri is not surpassed by any state in the Union. It is indeed the farmer's kingdom. . . . - The History of Jackson County, Missouri, 1881 I By David Mccullough Blue Union River Country Missouri

Nonetheless, as Katharine knew, they were having a splendid time, especially because of their work, but also in good measure because of the "Kitty Hawkers," whose consistent friendliness and desire to be of help, whose stories and ways of looking at life and expressing their opinions, made an enormous difference. The brothers were now hearing, as they had not before, words like "disremember" for "forget" and such expressions as "I'll not be seeing you tomorrow," or smooth water described being "slick calm." "Hoi toide" was "high tide. By David Mccullough Kitty Hawkers Nonetheless Katharine Knew

Writing again, he stressed that the events of war are always uncertain. Then, paraphrasing a favorite line from the popular play Cato by Joseph Addison - a line that General Washington, too, would often call upon - Adams told her, We cannot insure success, but we can deserve it. By David Mccullough Writing Uncertain Addison Washington Adams

The year 1776, celebrated as the birth year of the nation and for the signing of the Declaration of Independence, was for those who carried the fight for independence forward a year of all-too-few victories, of sustained suffering, disease, hunger, desertion, cowardice, disillusionment, defeat, terrible discouragement, and fear, as they would never forget, but also of phenomenal courage and bedrock devotion to country, and that, too they would never forget. By David Mccullough Forget Year Independence Declaration Victories

The town, although it had "suffered greatly," was not in as bad shape as he had expected, he wrote to John Hancock, "and I have a particular pleasure in being able to inform you, sir, that your house has received no damage worth mentioning." Other fine houses had been much abused by the British, windows broken, furnishings smashed or stolen, books destroyed. But at Hancock's Beacon Hill mansion all was in order, as General Sullivan also attested, and there was a certain irony in this, since the house had been occupied and maintained by the belligerent General James Grant, who had wanted to lay waste to every town on the New England coast. "Though I believe," wrote Sullivan, "the brave general had made free with some of the articles in the [wine] cellar. By David Mccullough John Hancock General Sir Suffered

In Le Mans, despite increasingly cold days, Wilbur, having switched to wearing a black leather motorcycle jacket, was busy practicing takeoffs without the use of a catapult. He had decided to compete for the Michelin Cup, a prize newly established by the French tire company, and in the competition such launching devices were not allowed. On the day of the event, December 31, the last day of the year and Wilbur's last big event at Camp d'Auvours, in spite of rain and cold he was barely able to endure, he put on his most astonishing performance yet, flying longer and farther than anyone ever had - 2 hours, 20 minutes, and 23 and one fifth seconds during which he covered a distance of 77 miles. He won the Cup. By David Mccullough Mans Wilbur Cup Jacket Catapult

Recalling his childhood in later life, Adams wrote of the unparalleled bliss of roaming in the open fields and woodlands of the town, of exploring the creeks, hiking the beaches, "of making and sailing boats ... swimming, skating, flying kites and shooting marbles, bat and ball, football ... wrestling and sometimes boxing," shooting at crows and ducks, and "running about to quiltings and frolics and sances among the boys and girls." The first fifteen years o fhis life, he said, :went off like a fairytale". By David Mccullough Adams Recalling Town Creeks Hiking

You have to get inside the people you are writing about. You have to go below the surface. And that's to a very large degree what all writers are doing - they're trying to get below the surface. Whether it's in fiction or poetry or writing history and biography. Some people make that possible because they write wonderful letters and diaries. And you have to sort of go where the material is. By David Mccullough Surface Inside Writing People Biography

It has been the will of Heaven," the essay began, "that we should be thrown into existence at a period when the greatest philosophers and lawgivers of antiquity would have wished to live ... a period when a coincidence of circumstances without example has afforded to thirteen colonies at once an opportunity of beginning government anew from the foundation and building as they choose. How few of the human race have ever had the opportunity of choosing a system of government for themselves and their children? How few have ever had anything more of choice in government than in climate? By David Mccullough Heaven Period Government Began Live

The French dine to gratify, we to appease appetite," observed John Sanderson. "We demolish dinner, they eat it." The general misconception back home was that French food was highly seasoned, but not at all, wrote James Fenimore Cooper. The genius in French cookery was "in blending flavors and in arranging compounds in such a manner as to produce ... the lightest and most agreeable food." The charm of a French dinner, like so much in French life, was the "effect. By David Mccullough French Sanderson John Gratify Appetite

We must not think of learning as only what happens in schools. It is an extended part of life. The most readily available resource for all of life is our public library system. By David Mccullough Schools Learning Life System Extended

John Roebling was a believer in hydropathy, the therapeutic use of water. Come headaches, constipation, the ague, he would sit in a scalding-hot tub for hours at a time, then jump out and wrap up in ice-cold, slopping-wet bed sheets and stay that way for another hour or two. He took Turkish baths, mineral baths. He drank vile concoctions of raw egg, charcoal, warm water, and turpentine, and there were dozens of people along Canal Street who had seen him come striding through his front gate, cross the canal bridge, and drink water "copiously" - gallons it seemed - from the old fountain beside the state prison. ("This water I relish much . . ." he would write in his notebook.) "A wet bandage around the neck every night, for years, will prevent colds . . ." he preached to his family. "A full cold bath every day is indispensable By David Mccullough Roebling Water John Hydropathy Believer

The more Adams thought about the future of his country, the more convinced he became that it rested on education. Before any great things are accomplished, he wrote to a correspondent, a memorable change must be made in the system of education and knowledge must become so general as to raise the lower ranks of society nearer to the higher. The education of a nation instead of being confined to a few schools and universities for the instruction of the few, must become the national care and expense for the formation of the many. By David Mccullough Adams Education Country Thought Future

She was particularly curious about the Viginians, wondering if, as slaveholders, they had the necessary commitment to the cause of freedom. "I have," she wrote, "sometimes been ready to think that the passions for liberty cannot be equally strong in the breasts of those who have been accustomed to deprive their fellow creature of theirs." What she felt about those in Massachusetts who owned slaves, including her own father, she did not say, but she need not haveJohn knew her mind on the subject. Writing to him during the First Congress, she had been unmistakably clear: "I wish most sincerely there was not a slave in the province. It always seemed a most iniquitous scheme to me[to] fight ourselves for what we are daily robbing and plundering from those who have as good a right to freedom as we have. By David Mccullough Viginians Wondering Slaveholders Curious Commitment

The world needs you. There is large work to be done, good work, and you can make a difference. Whatever your life work, take it seriously and enjoy it. Let's never be the kind of people who do things lukewarmly. If you're going to ring the bell, give the rope one hell of a pull. I wish you the fullest lives possible - full of love and bells ringing. By David Mccullough Work World Good Difference Large

Sadly, too many today take for granted public schools, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, equality before the law, forgetting that these were ever novel and daring ideas. Once By David Mccullough Freedom Sadly Schools Religion Speech

One of the regrets of my life is that I did not study Latin. I'm absolutely convinced, the more I understand these eighteenth century people, that it was that grounding in Greek and Latin that gave them their sense of the classic virtues: the classic ideals of honor, virtue, the good society, and their historic examples of what they could try to live up to. By David Mccullough Latin Regrets Life Study Classic

Nothing like it had ever been seen in New York. Housetops were covered with "gazers"; all wharves that offered a view were jammed with people. The total British armada now at anchor in a "long, thick cluster" off Staten Island numbered nearly four hundred ships large and small, seventy-three warships, including eight ships of the line, each mounting 50 guns or more. As British officers happily reminded one another, it was the largest fleet ever seen in American waters. In fact, it was the largest expeditionary force of the eighteenth century, the largest, most powerful force ever sent forth from Britain or any nation. By David Mccullough York Largest British Ships Force

Any nation that expects to be ignorant and free," Jefferson said, "expects what never was and never will be." And if the gap between the educated and the uneducated in America continues to grow as it is in our time, as fast as or faster than the gap between the rich and the poor, the gap between the educated and the uneducated is going to be of greater consequence and the more serious threat to our way of life. We must not, by any means, misunderstand that. By David Mccullough Jefferson Expects Gap Free Educated

power is not the point, responsibility is the point and at the heart of responsibility always are moral choices. In what we do, in what we say, what we stand for, we must feel, as did the founders of the nation, as did the founders of this college, that it is the example of America that matters. So By David Mccullough Point Responsibility Power Choices Founders

Never assume that people in positions of responsibility are behaving responsibly. By David Mccullough Responsibly Assume People Positions Responsibility

But to the managing editor of Life, Joseph J. Thorndike, Jr., the problem centered on bias. "Of course, we did not intentionally mislead our readers," he wrote. But I do think that we ourselves were misled by our bias. Because of that bias we did not exert ourselves enough to report the side we didn't believe in. We were too ready to accept the evidence of pictures like the empty auditorium at Omaha and to ignore the later crowds. We were too eager to report the Truman "bobbles" and to pass over the things that were wrong about the Republican campaign: empty Dewey speeches, the bad Republican candidates, the dangers of Republican commitments to big business. By David Mccullough Life Joseph Thorndike Republican Bias

followed. . . . By merely observing with close attention how the winged tribes perform their feats, by carefully reflecting on what we have seen, and, above all, by striving correctly to understand the modus operandi of what we do see, we are sure not to wander far from the path, which leads to eventual success. By David Mccullough Feats Path Success Observing Close

Roebling rejoined the Army of the Potomac in February 1863 back at Fredericksburg, where he was quartered late one night in an old stone jail, from which he would emerge the following morning with a story that would be told in the family for years and years to come. The place had little or no light, it seems, and Roebling, all alone, groping his way about, discovered an old chest that aroused his curiosity. He lifted the lid and reaching inside, his hand touched a stone-cold face. The lid came back down with a bang. Deciding to investigate no further, he cleared a place on the floor, stretched out, and went to sleep. At daybreak he opened the chest to see what sort of corpse had been keeping him company through the night and found instead a stone statue of George Washington's mother that had been stored away for safekeeping. By David Mccullough Years February Fredericksburg Army Potomac

When you see one of these graceful crafts sailing over your head, and possibly over your home, as I expect you will in the near future, see if you don't agree with me that the flying machine is one of God's most gracious and precious gifts. By David Mccullough God Head Home Future Gifts

Truman had been sitting in a chair in the bedroom with several new books stacked on a table beside him. Did the President like to read himself to sleep at night, McCormick asked. "No, young man," said Truman, "I like to read myself awake." Thomas By David Mccullough Truman Sitting Chair Bedroom Books

You can't learn to play the piano without playing the piano, you can't learn to write without writing, and, in many ways, you can't learn to think without thinking. Writing is thinking. To write well is to think clearly. That's why it's so hard. By David Mccullough Learn Piano Thinking Writing Write

Truman, Acheson knew, was far more sentimental than generally known, or than he wished people to know, far more touched by gestures that to many might seem routine. On board his plane later in the year, bound again for Key West, he would write Acheson a brief longhand note marked and underscored "Personal." It was good of you to see us off. You always do the right thing. I'm still a farm boy and when the Secretary of State of the greatest Republic comes to the airport to see me off on a vacation, I can't help but swell up a little. "And then he was so fair," Acheson would say. "He didn't make different decisions with different people. He called everyone together. You were all heard and you all got the answer together. He was a square dealer all the way through. By David Mccullough Acheson Truman Knew Routine Personal

The only way to compose myself and collect my thoughts," he wrote in his diary,"is to set down at my table, place my diary before me, and take my pen into my hand. By David Mccullough Diary Thoughts Table Place Hand

Wilbur would remark that if he were to give a young man advice on how to get ahead in life, he would say, Pick out a good father and mother, and begin life in Ohio. By David Mccullough Pick Ohio Wilbur Mother Life

Public business, my son, must always be done by somebody. It will be done by somebody or other. If wise men decline it, others will not; if honest men refuse it, others will not. By David Mccullough Public Business Son Men Wise

There is only one person who can measure your success. That person is you. By David Mccullough Success Person Measure

For some people the experience of crossing by carriage was positively terrifying. "You drive over to Suspension Bridge," wrote Mark Twain, "and divide your misery between the chances of smashing down two hundred feet into the river below, and the chances of having a railway-train overhead smashing down onto you. Either possibility is discomforting taken by itself, but, mixed together, they amount in the aggregate to positive unhappiness. By David Mccullough Terrifying Chances People Experience Crossing

Let the children have their night of fun and laughter. Let the gifts of Father Christmas delight their play. Let us grown-ups share to the full in their unstinted pleasures before we turn again to the stern task and the formidable years that lie before us, resolved that, by our sacrifice and daring, these same children shall not be robbed of their inheritance or denied their right to live in a free and decent world." Winston Churchill Christmas Eve Message, 1941 as printed in "In the Dark Streets Shineth. By David Mccullough Laughter Christmas Night Fun Children

Strange it was that the British commander-in-chief, known for his chronic gambling, seemed to give no thought to how his American opponent might play his hand. O By David Mccullough British American Strange Gambling Hand

I had been writing for about twelve years. I knew pretty well how you could find things out, but I had never been trained in an academic way how to go about the research. By David Mccullough Years Writing Twelve Research Knew

What had transpired that day in 1903, in the stiff winds and cold of the Outer Banks in less than two hours time, was one of the turning points in history, the beginning of change for the world far greater than any of those present could possibly have imagined. With their homemade machine, Wilbur and Orville Wright had shown without a doubt that man could fly and if the world did not yet know it, they did. Their flights that morning were the first ever in which a piloted machine took off under its own power into the air in full flight, sailed forward with no loss of speed, and landed at a point as high as that from which it started. By David Mccullough Outer Banks World Time History

As Truman saw the presidency, the chief responsibility was to make decisions and he made some of the most difficult and far-reaching of any president. If not brilliant or eloquent, he was courageous and principled. The invisible something he brought to the office was character. By David Mccullough Truman Presidency President Chief Responsibility

The loyalty of those around Truman was total and would never falter. In years to come not one member of the Truman White House would ever speak or write scathingly of him or belittle him in any fashion. There would be no vindictive "inside" books or articles written about this President by those who worked closest to him. They all thought the world of Harry Truman then and for the rest of their lives, and would welcome the chance to say so. For By David Mccullough Truman Falter Loyalty Total White

The important thing is that the President be saved from his friends. Bill Hassett urged Truman to rid himself of Boyle without delay. "Your friends will destroy you," Hassett pleaded. "It's all right, Bill," Truman said, as if trying to calm a child. "It's all right." Truman By David Mccullough President Truman Hassett Bill Important

There are innumerable writing problems in an extended work. One book took a little more than six years. You, the writer, change in six years. The life around you changes. Your family changes. They grow up. They move away. The world is changing. You're also learning more about the subject. By the time you're writing the last chapters of the book, you know much more than you did when you started at the beginning. By David Mccullough Years Work Innumerable Problems Extended

To me, history ought to be a source of pleasure. It isn't just part of our civic responsibility. To me, it's an enlargement of the experience of being alive, just the way literature or art or music is.[The Title Always Comes Last; NEH 2003 Jefferson Lecturer interview profile] By David Mccullough History Pleasure Source Neh Jefferson

To go back and read Swift and Defoe and Samuel Johnson and Smollett and Pope - all those people we had to read in college English courses - to read them now is to have one of the infinite pleasures in life. By David Mccullough Read Pope Swift Defoe Samuel

And if his youth was obvious, the Glorious Cause was to a large degree a young man's cause. The commander in chief of the army, George Washington, was himself only forty-three. John Hancock, the President of the Continental Congress, was thirty-nine, John Adams, forty, Thomas Jefferson, thirty-two, younger even than the young Rhode Island general. In such times many were being cast in roles seemingly beyond their experience or capacities, and Washington had quickly judged Nathanael Greene to be "an object of confidence. By David Mccullough Glorious Obvious Washington John Youth

Adams was both a devout Christian and an independent thinker, and he saw no conflict in that. By David Mccullough Christian Adams Thinker Devout Independent

The preparations were elaborate and mammoth in scale, and Washington threw himself into the effort, demanding that not an hour be lost. By David Mccullough Washington Scale Effort Demanding Lost

So, it was done, the break was made, in words at least: on July 2, 1776, in Philadelphia, the American colonies declared independence. If not all thirteen clocks had struck as one, twelve had, and with the other silent, the effect was the same.It was John Adams, more than anyone, who had made it happen. Further, he seems to have understood more clearly than any what a momentous day it was and in the privacy of two long letters to Abigail, he poured out his feelings as did no one else:The second day of July 1776 will be the most memorable epocha in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the Day of Deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more. By David Mccullough Philadelphia American July Day Made

by a Scotch-Irish preacher, a Presbyterian named James Finley, in the year 1801, or before John Roebling was born. Finley had been a versatile and ingenious man. His "chain bridge" had a seventy-foot span, cost about six hundred dollars, and in the next ten years he built some forty more of them, including one over the Potomac above Washington. By David Mccullough Presbyterian James John Roebling Finley

Was a deep melancholic disillusionment growing out of what John Roebling thought he saw happening to the country since the war. The great dynamic of America, he had always said, was that every man had the opportunity to better himself, to fulfill himself. Now the great dynamic seemed more like common greed. By David Mccullough John Roebling War Great Deep

In America, applause is won only by physical exertion. By David Mccullough America Applause Exertion Won Physical

That there would be a political advantage in having the declaration written by a Virginian was clear, for the same reason there had been political advantage in having the Virginian Washington in command of the army. But be that as it may, Jefferson, with his "peculiar felicity of expression," as Adams said, was the best choice for the task, just as Washington had been the best choice to command the Continental Army, and again Adams had played a key part. Had his contributions as a member of Congress been only that of casting the two Virginians in their respective, fateful roles, his service to the American cause would have been very great. By David Mccullough Advantage Political Washington Army Virginian

When I read that the British army had landed thirty-two thousand troops - and I had realized, not very long before, that Philadelphia only had thirty thousand people in it - it practically lifted me out of my chair. By David Mccullough British Philadelphia Thousand Troops Realized

We want great men who, when fortune frowns, will not be discouraged. ~Colonel Henry Knox By David Mccullough Frowns Discouraged Colonel Knox Great

Seen under the microscope, Stegomyia is a creature of striking beauty. Its general color is dark gray, but the thorax is marked with a silvery-white lyre-shaped pattern; the abdomen is banded with silvery-white stripes and the six-jointed legs are striped alternately with black and pure white. Among mosquitoes Stegomyia is the height of elegance. By David Mccullough Stegomyia Microscope Beauty Creature Striking

To his own children he was at once the ultimate voice of authority and, when time allowed, their most exuberant companion. He never fired their imaginations or made them laugh as their mother could, but he was unfailingly interested in them, sympathetic, confiding, entering into their lives in ways few fathers ever do. It was a though he was in league with them. By David Mccullough Allowed Companion Children Ultimate Voice

A British ship's surgeon who used the privileges of his profession to visit some of the rebel camps, described roads crowded with carts and wagons hauling mostly provisions, but also, he noted, inordinate quantities of rum - "for without New England rum, a New England army could not be kept together." The rebels, he calculated, were consuming a bottle a day per man. By David Mccullough England Rum British Camps Provisions

[While writing history], I've kept the most interesting company imaginable with people long gone. Some I've come to know better than many I know in real life, since in real life we don't get to read other people's mail. By David Mccullough History Real People Writing Interesting

There was a burst of applause when George Washington entered and walked to the dais. More applause followed on the appearance of Thomas Jefferson, who had been inaugurated Vice President upstairs in the Senate earlier that morning, and "like marks of approbation" greeted John Adams, who on his entrance in the wake of the two tall Virginians seemed shorter and more bulky even than usual. By David Mccullough George Washington Dais Applause Burst

You are facing one of the greatest decisions of your career. You must choose between Shonts and Gorgas. If you fall back upon the old methods of sanitation, you will fail, just as the French failed. If you back up Gorgas and his ideas and let him pursue his campaign against the mosquitoes, you will get your canal. By David Mccullough Career Gorgas Facing Greatest Decisions

One might also say that history is not about the past. If you think about it, no one ever lived in the past. Washington, Jefferson, John Adams, and their contemporaries didn't walk about saying, "Isn't this fascinating living in the past! Aren't we picturesque in our funny clothes!" They lived in the present. The difference is it was their present, not ours. They were caught up in the living moment exactly as we are, and with no more certainty of how things would turn out than we have. By David Mccullough Past History Jefferson Lived Present

He asked for national compulsory health insurance to be funded by payroll deductions. Under the system, all citizens would receive medical and hospital service irrespective of their ability to pay. And By David Mccullough Deductions Asked National Compulsory Health

Roosevelt loved the subtleties of human relations ... He was sensitive to nuances in a way that Harry Truman never was and never would be. Truman, with his rural Missouri background, and partly too, because of the limits of his education, was inclined to see things in far simpler terms, as right or wrong, wise or foolish. He dealt little in abstractions. By David Mccullough Roosevelt Relations Truman Loved Subtleties

If a boy finds he can make a few articles with his hands, it tends to make him rely on himself. And the planning that is necessary for the execution of the work is a discipline and an education of great value to him. By David Mccullough Make Hands Boy Finds Articles

Your education never stops and college is just the beginning. You come out of college with a huge advantage in that you've ideally and more times than not you've come out with a love of learning and that's what matters above all. By David Mccullough Beginning College Education Stops Huge

If we think back through our own lives, the subjects that you liked best in school almost certainly were taught by the teachers you liked best. And the teacher you liked best was the teacher who cared about the subject she taught. By David Mccullough Teacher Lives Taught Back School

The level of the Pacific was not twenty feet higher than that of the Atlantic, as had been the accepted view for centuries. Sea level was sea level, the same on both sides. The difference was in the size of their tides. (The tides on the Pacific are tremendous, eighteen to twenty feet, while on the Caribbean there is little or no tide, barely more than a foot. When Balboa stood at last on the Pacific shore, he had seen no rush of lordly breakers, but an ugly brown mud flat reaching away for a mile and more, because he had arrived when the tide was out.) By David Mccullough Atlantic Level Pacific Centuries Sea

stood a bit over five feet, and all who knew her knew what a force she was. In a household of three men and one woman, she more than held her own. She was the most vivacious of the family, a tireless, all-season By David Mccullough Knew Stood Feet Bit Force

What was surprisingand would largely be forgotten as time went onwas how well Adams had done. Despite the malicious attacks on him, the furor over the Alien and Sedition Acts, unpopular taxes, betrayals by his own cabinet, the disarray of the Federalists, and the final treachery of Hamilton, he had, in fact, come very close to winning in the electoral count. With a difference of only 250 votes in New York City, Adams would have won an electoral count of 71 to 61. So another of the ironies of 1800 was that Jefferson, the apostle of agrarian America who loathed cities, owed his ultimate political triumph to New York. By David Mccullough Adams York Surprisingand Largely Forgotten

Oh! Almighty and Everlasting God, Creator of Heaven, Earth and the Universe: Help me to be, to think, to act what is right, because it is right; make me truthful, honest and honorable in all things; make me intellectually honest for the sake of right and honor and without thought of reward to me. Give me the ability to be charitable, forgiving and patient with my fellowmen - help me to understand their motives and their shortcomings - even as Thou understandest mine! Amen, Amen, Amen. Say By David Mccullough Amen Make Honest God Creator

The author perceives nuances of Abigail Adams' character in the occasional errors she makes in readily quoting John Milton. Rather than giving the observer a reason to quibble, they are evidence that she had absorbed Milton's works enough to feel comfortable quoting them from memory. By David Mccullough Abigail Adams John Milton Quoting

We live, my dear soul, in an age of trial. What will be the consequence I know not. John Adams, in a letter to Abigail Adams By David Mccullough Adams Live Soul Trial Dear

But let us not forget, too, that it was John Adams who nominated George Washington to be commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. It was John Adams who insisted that Jefferson be the one to write the Declaration of Independence. And it was President John Adams who made John Marshall chief justice of the Supreme Court. As a casting director alone, he was brilliant. Abigail By David Mccullough Adams John Army George Washington

You have overburdened your argument with ostentatious erudition.Spoken by Abigail Adams By David Mccullough Adams Abigail Overburdened Argument Ostentatious

Remember all men would be tyrants if they could - from a poem by Daniel Defoe, as written by Abigail to John Adams By David Mccullough Defoe Adams Daniel Abigail John

I could not do what I do without the kindness, consideration, resourcefulness and work of librarians, particularly in public libraries. What started me writing history happened because of some curiosity that I had about some photographs I'd seen in the Library of Congress. By David Mccullough Consideration Kindness Resourcefulness Librarians Libraries

Free speech is a restraint on government; not an incitement to the citizen. By David Mccullough Free Government Citizen Speech Restraint

There was no opiate like a French pillow. By David Mccullough French Pillow Opiate

Why would anyone wish to be provincial in time, any more than being tied down to one place through life, when the whole reach of the human drama is there to experience in some of the greatest books ever written. By David Mccullough Time Life Written Provincial Tied

Best of all, Galignani's, the English bookstore and reading room, a favorite gathering place, stood across the street from the hotel. There one could pass long, comfortable hours with a great array of English and even American newspapers. Parisians were as avid readers of newspapers as any people on earth. Some thirty-four daily papers were published in Paris, and many of these, too, were to be found spread across several large tables. The favorite English-language paper was Galignani's own Messenger, with morning and evening editions Monday through Friday. For the newly arrived Americans, after more than a month with no news of any kind, these and the American papers were pure gold. Of the several circulating libraries in Paris, only Galignani's carried books in English, and indispensable was Galignani's New Paris Guide in English. Few Americans went without this thick little leather-bound volume, fully 839 pages of invaluable insights and information, plus maps. By David Mccullough English Galignani Paris Room Place

Meanwhile, an article in the September issue of the popular McClure's Magazine written by Simon Newcomb, a distinguished astronomer and professor at Johns Hopkins University, dismissed the dream of flight as no more than a myth. And were such a machine devised, he asked, what useful purpose could it possibly serve? By David Mccullough Newcomb University September Magazine Simon

In a day and age when, unfortunately, so few write letters or keep a diary any longer, the Wright Papers stand as a striking reminder of a time when that was not the way and of the immense value such writings can have in bringing history to life. By David Mccullough Wright Papers Longer Life Day

We still dislike hypocrites. It's a very American characteristic. We still like people who have ideas and who are willing to stand up for what they believe in. We're very forgiving of failures and very willing to give people a second and third chance if they mean to do better and are sorry for what they've done. By David Mccullough Hypocrites Dislike American People Characteristic

I'm absolutely positive it's in our human nature to want to know about the past. The two most popular movies of all time, while not historically accurate, are about core historic events: Gone With the Wind and Titanic. By David Mccullough Past Absolutely Positive Human Nature

Read. Read every chance you get. Read to keep growing. Read history. Read poetry. Read for pure enjoyment. Read a book called Life on a Little Known Planet. It's about insects. It will make you feel better. By David Mccullough Read Planet Life Chance Growing

He loved politics in large part exactly because it meant time spent with men like Cactus Jack Garner(who would be remembered for observing that the vice presidency was not worth a pitcher of warm piss). By David Mccullough Garner Cactus Jack Piss Loved

Measurements are never enough. The artist's eye and desire to breathe life into the subject must be the deciding factors. By David Mccullough Measurements Factors Artist Eye Desire

Why limit yourself to the experience of your own relatively brief time on earth, according to your biological clock, when the whole realm of the human experience reaching back infinitely far is available to you? By David Mccullough Experience Earth Clock Limit Time

The best dividends on the labor invested have invariably come from seeking more knowledge rather than more power. Signed Wilbur and Orville Wright, March 12, 1906. By David Mccullough March Power Wright Dividends Labor

When I'm reading for my own pleasure, I read things other than history or archival material. I read a lot of fiction. I'm very fond of mysteries. By David Mccullough Pleasure Material Read Reading Things

Dyer 5 bu Paid 3.50 Hogs and Cattle Aug 23 9 hogs to K.C. 74.38 24 1 " " " 15.93 Oct 18 1 cow " " 32.85 By David Mccullough Hogs Dyer Paid Aug Cattle

Little children can learn anything, just as they can learn a foreign language. The mind is so absorbent then. There ought to be a real program to educate teachers who want to teach grade school children about history. By David Mccullough Learn Language Foreign Children History

We are raising a generation of young Americans who are, to a very large degree, historically illiterate. It's not their faults. There's no problem about enlisting their interest in history. None. The problem is the teachers so often have no history in their background. By David Mccullough Americans Degree Historically Illiterate Raising

One learned to take time to savor life, much as one took time to savor a good meal or glass of wine. The French called it "l'entente de la vie," the harmony of life. By David Mccullough Time Savor Life Wine Learned

I lament the want of a liberal education. I feel the mist of ignorance to surround me - Nathanael Greene By David Mccullough Education Nathanael Greene Lament Liberal

Every line from you exhilarates my spirits and gives me a glow of pleasure, but your kind congratulations are solid comfort to my heart. The little strength of mind and the considerable strenght of body that I once possessed appear to be all gone, but while I breathe I shall be your friend. By David Mccullough Pleasure Heart Line Exhilarates Spirits

The letter was dated October 2. That night, as Orville later told the story, discussion in camp on aeronautical theory went on at such length that he indulged himself in more coffee than usual. Unable to sleep, he lay awake thinking about ways to achieve an even better system of control when suddenly he had an idea: the rear rudder, instead of being in a fixed position, should be hinged - movable. By David Mccullough October Letter Dated Orville Movable

("It seemed to be the principle employment of both armies to look at each other with spyglasses," wrote the eminent Loyalist Peter Oliver, former chief justice of the province.) By David Mccullough Oliver Loyalist Peter Spyglasses Wrote

By reaching for the stars, Jefferson gave us all the impulse. He By David Mccullough Jefferson Stars Impulse Reaching Gave

As the Sword was the last resort for the preservation of our liberties, so it ought to be the first thing laid aside when those liberties are firmly established By David Mccullough Sword Liberties Established Resort Preservation

In fact, the Americans of 1776 enjoyed a higher standard of living than any people in the world. Their material wealth was considerably less than it would become in time, still it was a great deal more than others had elsewhere. How people with so much, living on their own land, would ever choose to rebel against the ruler God had put over them and thereby bring down such devastation upon themselves was for the invaders incomprehensible. By David Mccullough Americans Fact Enjoyed World Higher

My next book is also set in the eighteenth century. It's about the Revolution, with the focus on the year 1776. It's about Washington and the army and the war. It's the nadir, the low point of the United States of America. By David Mccullough Century Book Set Eighteenth Revolution

I've always been dissatisfied, I know that. But lately I find that I reek of discontentment. It fills my throat, and it floods my brain. And sometimes I fear there is no longer a dream, but only the discontentment. By David Mccullough Dissatisfied Discontentment Find Reek Throat

The people - why the people are magnificent: in their carriages, which are numerous, in their house furniture, which is fine, in their pride and conceit, which are inimitable, in their profaneness, which is intolerable, in the want of principle, which is prevalent, in their Toryism, which is insufferable. By David Mccullough People Toryism Magnificent Carriages Numerous

Yes, this is a dangerous time. Yes, this is a time full of shadows and fear. But we have been through worse before and we have faced more difficult days before. We have shown courage and determination, and skillful and inventive and courageous and committed responses to crisis before. By David Mccullough Time Dangerous Fear Full Shadows

Determined, America must raise an empire of permanent duration, supported upon the grand pillars of Truth, Freedom, and Religion, encouraged by the smiles of Justice and defended by her own patriotic sons. . . . Permit me then to recommend from the sincerity of my heart, ready at all times to bleed in my country's cause, a Declaration of Independence, and call upon the world and the great God who governs it to witness the necessity, propriety and rectitude thereof. The By David Mccullough Freedom America Truth Religion Justice

Books can change your life. Some of the most influential people in our lives are characters we meet in books. By David Mccullough Life Books Change Influential People

Courage is contagious. If a leader shows courage, others get the idea. By David Mccullough Contagious Courage Idea Leader Shows

George P. A. Healy; I knew no one in France, I was utterly ignorant of the language, I did not know what I should do when once there; but I was not yet one-and-twenty, and I had a great stock of courage, of inexperience - which is sometimes a great help - and a strong desire to be my very best. By David Mccullough George Great Healy France Language

It so happens that the work which is likely to be our most durable monument, and to convey some knowledge of us to the most remote posterity, is a work of bare utility; not a shrine, not a fortress, not a palace, but a bridge. - MONTGOMERY SCHUYLER IN HARPER'S WEEKLY, MAY 24, 1883 By David Mccullough Work Monument Posterity Utility Shrine

Real success is finding your lifework in the work that you love. By David Mccullough Real Love Success Finding Lifework

Real success is finding you lifework in the work that you love. By David Mccullough Real Love Success Finding Lifework

But it isn't true," Orville responded emphatically, "to say we had no special advantages . . . the greatest thing in our favor was growing up in a family where there was always much encouragement to intellectual curiosity. By David Mccullough Orville True Emphatically Advantages Responded

For a free, self-governing people, something more than a vague familiarity with history is essential, if we are to hold on to and sustain our freedom. By David Mccullough Free Selfgoverning People Essential Freedom

It would be one of the great tragedies of history if at the very moment of the victory, now within our grasp, such distrust, such lack of faith, should prejudice the entire undertaking after the colossal losses of life, material and treasure. Churchill By David Mccullough Victory Grasp Distrust Faith Life

To be unable to read was the ultimate measure of wretchedness. By David Mccullough Wretchedness Unable Read Ultimate Measure

History is about life. It's awful when the life is squeezed out of it and there's no flavor left, no uncertainties, no horsing around. It always disturbed me how many biographers never gave their subjects a chance to eat. You can tell a lot about people by how they eat, what they eat, and what kind of table manners they have. By David Mccullough Eat History Life Left Uncertainties

Of all animal movements, flight is indisputably the finest. . . . The fact that a creature as heavy, bulk for bulk, as many solid substances, can by the unaided movements of its wings urge itself through the air with a speed little short of a cannonball, fills the mind with wonder. By David Mccullough Flight Finest Animal Indisputably Movements

Steamboats by this time were becoming a familiar presence on the rivers and coastal waters of America, but not until 1838 did steam-powered ships cross the Atlantic. By David Mccullough America Atlantic Steamboats Time Familiar

To what object are my views directed?" he asked. "Am I grasping at money, or scheming for power?" Yes, he was amassing a library, but to what purpose? "Fame, fortune, power say some, are the ends intended by a library. The service of God, country, clients, fellow men, say others. Which of these lie nearest my heart? By David Mccullough Directed Asked Library Fame Object

I think the public library system is one of the most amazing American institutions. Free for everybody. If you ever get the blues about the status of American culture there are still more public libraries than there are McDonald's. During the worst of the Depression not one public library closed their doors. By David Mccullough American Public Institutions System Amazing

Panama still more extraordinary machines would work an even more astonishing success. The wonderful thing was that the American dredges did By David Mccullough Panama Success Extraordinary Machines Work

But no statistic conveyed a true picture of Panama rain. It had to be seen, to be felt, smelled; it had to be heard to be appreciated. The effect was much as though the heavens had opened and the air had turned instantly liquid. By David Mccullough Panama Rain Statistic Conveyed True

I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce, and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study paintings, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain. How By David Mccullough Study Philosophy Mathematics Sons Architecture

The experience at Suez was little help. Probably they would have been better off in the long run had there been no Suez Canal in their past. By David Mccullough Suez Experience Canal Past Long

But Brooklyn, in fact, was the third-largest city in America and had been for some time. It was a major manufacturing center - for glass, steel, tinware, marble mantels, hats, buggy whips, chemicals, cordage, whiskey, beer, glue. It was a larger seaport than New York, a larger city than Boston, Chicago, St. Louis, San Francisco, and growing faster than any of them - faster even than By David Mccullough Brooklyn America Fact Time Thirdlargest

Thus began the Bulloch line in America, the annals of which, by Mittie's time, included one noted By David Mccullough America Bulloch Mittie Time Included

For more than fifty years, or long before the Wright brothers took up their part, would-be "conquerors of the air" and their strange or childish flying machines, as described in the press, had served as a continuous source of popular comic relief. By David Mccullough Wouldbe Wright Years Part Conquerors

I think it is one of the most extraordinary elections, a turning point for our country and for the world. That remarkable young man [Barack Obama] has kept his demeanor, kept his temperament and has shown a power to inspire. I see what energy that he has inspired among the young. Well, it inspires us old goats too. By David Mccullough Elections World Barack Obama Extraordinary

The sunsets, he told her, were the most beautiful he had ever seen, the clouds lighting up in all colors, the stars at night so bright he could read his watch by them. By David Mccullough Sunsets Colors Told Beautiful Clouds

Find something to do that you love because then the work itself is always the reward not the recompense. And if you love what you're doing you probably do better at it than doing something you don't love and therefore you'll be compensated appropriately. By David Mccullough Love Find Recompense Work Reward

Boston Latin School. By David Mccullough School Latin Boston

Wilbur, as George Spratt once told Octave Chanute, was "always ready to oppose an idea expressed by anybody," ready to "jump into an argument with both sleeves rolled up." And as Wilbur himself would explain to Spratt, he believed in "a good scrap." It brought out "new ways of looking at things," helped "round off the corners." It was characteristic of all his family, Wilbur said, to be able to see the weak points of anything. By David Mccullough Chanute Ready George Octave Spratt

Not incidentally, the Langley project had cost nearly $70,000, the greater part of it public money, whereas the brothers' total expenses for everything from 1900 to 1903, including materials and travel to and from Kitty Hawk, came to a little less than $1,000, a sum paid entirely from the modest profits of their bicycle business. By David Mccullough Hawk Langley Kitty Incidentally Money

I love to go to the places where things happen. I like to walk the walk and see how the light falls and what winter feels like. By David Mccullough Happen Love Places Things Walk

Had Howe pressed on the afternoon of the 27th, the British victory could have been total. Or had the wind turned earlier, and the British navy moved into the East River, the war and the chances of an independent United States of America could have been long delayed, or even ended there and then. By David Mccullough British Howe Total Pressed Afternoon

People were born and raised Democrats as they were born and raised Baptists or Catholics. It was not something you questioned. As one said, "You were a Democrat come hell or high water. Or you were a Republican." In By David Mccullough Born Catholics Baptists Raised People

A veteran artist counsels a less experienced one to start a painting using colors in the middle range so that the painter can move to more extreme colors as the work progresses. By David Mccullough Colors Progresses Veteran Artist Counsels

Lord Bolingbroke, who was an eighteenth-century political philosopher, called history "philosophy taught with examples. By David Mccullough Bolingbroke Lord Philosopher Called History

LORD BOLINGBROKE, the eighteenth-century political philosopher, said that "history is philosophy teaching by examples." Thucydides is reported to have said much the same thing two thousand years earlier. Jefferson By David Mccullough Lord Bolingbroke Philosopher History Eighteenthcentury

...avarice and stinginess [are] not frugality By David Mccullough Avarice Stinginess Frugality

To write is to think, and to write well is to think well, By David Mccullough Write

The talent, including the talent for history - and I do think there are people who just have a talent for it, the way you have a talent for public speaking or music or whatever - it shouldn't be allowed to lie dormant. It should be brought alive. By David Mccullough Talent Including History Dormant People

no getting too big for their britches, By David Mccullough Britches Big

Washington had performed his role to perfection. It was no enough that a leader look the part; by Washington's rules, he must know how to act it with self-command and precision. By David Mccullough Perfection Washington Performed Role Part

Sometimes the very struggle of getting the words down on paper does result in unexpected discoveries or clarifications. By David Mccullough Clarifications Struggle Words Paper Result

How unpardonable would it have been in you to have turned out a blockhead. How By David Mccullough Blockhead Unpardonable Turned

The clock would be simple if you destroyed all the wheels . . . but it would not tell the time of day. On By David Mccullough Wheels Clock Simple Destroyed Day

Honesty, sincerity, and openness, I esteem essential marks of a good mind, By David Mccullough Honesty Sincerity Openness Mind Esteem

However little television you watch, watch less. By David Mccullough Watch Television

The preservation of liberty depends upon the intellectual and moral character of the people. As long as knowledge and virtue are diffused generally among the body of a nation, it is impossible they should be enslaved. . . . By David Mccullough People Preservation Liberty Depends Intellectual

Napoleon could never imagine that some people loved their country as much as he loved his own. By David Mccullough Napoleon Loved Imagine People Country

everyone. Berg and his wife, Edith, also an By David Mccullough Edith Berg Wife

The first of all qualities of a general is courage. By David Mccullough Courage Qualities General

Let us have gardens, then, and other public places where we may see our friends, and parade our vanities, if you will, before the eyes of the world. Did you ever know anyone who was not delighted with a garden? - John Sanderson By David Mccullough Friends Vanities World Public Places

The source of our suffering has been our timidity. We have been afraid to think ... Let us dare to read, think, speak, write. By David Mccullough Timidity Source Suffering Speak Write

A nation that forgets its past can function no better than an individual with amnesia. By David Mccullough Amnesia Nation Forgets Past Function

locomotive, Special trucks By David Mccullough Locomotive Special Trucks

Curiosity is what separates us from the cabbages. It's accelerative. The more we know, the more we want to know. By David Mccullough Curiosity Cabbages Separates Accelerative

Higher, Orville, higher! By David Mccullough Higher Orville

Jacob Riis in his How the Other Half Lives By David Mccullough Lives Riis Half Jacob

He was also a vociferous champion of abstinence from hard or spirituous liquors - but then no one's perfect. In By David Mccullough Liquors Perfect Vociferous Champion Abstinence

Integrity should be preserved in all events, as essential to his happiness, through every stage of his existence. By David Mccullough Integrity Events Happiness Existence Preserved

Why do some men reach for the stars and so many others never even look up? By David Mccullough Men Reach Stars

I just thank my father and mother, my lucky stars, that I had the advantage of an education in the humanities. By David Mccullough Mother Stars Humanities Father Lucky

remodeled glider to Kill Devil Hills to resume testing. By David Mccullough Kill Devil Hills Remodeled Testing

In truth, the color line, of which almost nothing was said in print, cut through every facet of daily life in the Zone, and it was as clearly drawn and as closely observed as anywhere in the Deep South or the most rigid colonial enclaves in Africa. By David Mccullough Zone Africa Deep South Truth

From ancient times and into the Middle Ages, man had dreamed of taking to the sky, of soaring into the blue like the birds. One savant in Spain in the year 875 is known to have covered himself with feathers in the attempt. Others devised wings of their own design and jumped from rooftops and towers - some to their deaths - in Constantinople, Nuremberg, Perugia. By David Mccullough Ages Middle Man Sky Birds

It was a day and age that saw no reason why one could not learn whatever was required - learn vitally anything - by the close study of books. By David Mccullough Required Books Learn Day Age

In an exhibition wherein paintings of nudes were commonplace, that of Madame Gautreau in her black evening dress was considered scandalously erotic. -from The Greater Journey By David Mccullough Madame Gautreau Commonplace Erotic Journey

Nathaniel Willis, having spent his first week walking the city in drizzling rain, said that when the sun burst forth at last it so changed all his previous impressions that he had to set off and see it all a second time. "And it seemed to me another city," he wrote. "I never realized so forcibly the beauty of sunshine. Architecture, particularly, is nothing without it. By David Mccullough Willis Nathaniel Rain Time City

Because it's of more importance to community, that innocence should be protected, than it is, that guilt should be punished. By David Mccullough Community Protected Punished Importance Innocence

I write on the typewriter. I like it because I like the feeling of making something with my hands. I like pressing the key and a letter comes up and is printed on a piece of paper. I can understand that. By David Mccullough Typewriter Write Hands Feeling Making

Indeed, bribery, favoritism, and corruption in a great variety of forms were rampant not only in politics, but in all levels of society. By David Mccullough Bribery Favoritism Politics Society Corruption

Spotting talent is one of the essential elements of great leadership. By David Mccullough Spotting Leadership Talent Essential Elements

s ships Phoenix and Rose, in the company of three tenders, cast off their moorings at Staten Island and started up the harbor under full sail, moving swiftly with the favorable wind and a perfect flood tide. Alarm guns sounded in New York. Soldiers By David Mccullough Rose Phoenix Staten Island Tenders

Writing is thinking. To write well is to think clearly. That's why it's so hard.(Interview with NEH chairman Bruce Cole, Humanities, July/Aug. 2002, Vol. 23/No. 4) By David Mccullough Writing Thinking Humanities July Aug

There's no such thing as a foreseeable future. By David Mccullough Future Thing Foreseeable

Never contradict anybody," he was advised by Franklin, whom he admired above all men, though it was advice he hardly needed. By David Mccullough Franklin Men Needed Contradict Advised

The morning bourbon - an ounce of Old Grandad or Wild Turkey taken after the two-mile walk and a few setting-up exercises and the rubdown that usually followed the morning walk - had also become routine. Whether the bourbon was on doctor's orders, or a bit of old-fashioned home medicine of the kind many of his generation thought beneficial to the circulation past age sixty ("to get the engine going"), is not known. But it seemed to agree with him. By David Mccullough Morning Walk Grandad Wild Turkey

Each generation, we peel back biases that have blinded those before us. The more we know about the past enables us to ask richer and more provocative questions about who we are today. By David Mccullough Generation Peel Back Biases Blinded

To shut yourself from history is to shut yourself off from say music or painting or the theatre, literature for the rest of your life. It would be to cheat yourself of the pleasures of life. By David Mccullough Shut Life Theatre Literature History

It is almost a reconciliation to having my leg broken to contemplate the amount of reading I am going to do this summer. I am getting better fast and I am afraid I'll get well so soon I won't get to read enough. By David Mccullough Summer Reconciliation Leg Broken Contemplate

Sometimes I wonder if we make too much of our presidents. Might it be better if we ignored them a little more than we do? But then on the other hand, I don't think we can ever know enough about them, and particularly before putting them in the job. The truth is, of course, it makes an enormous difference who's in the White House. By David Mccullough Presidents House White Hand Job

But it is not really necessary to look too far into the future; we see enough already to be certain that it will be magnificent. Only let us hurry and open the roads. By David Mccullough Future Magnificent Roads Hurry Open

little of consequence is ever accomplished alone. High achievement is nearly always a joint effort, By David Mccullough Consequence Accomplished High Effort Achievement

You have to have wisdom and knowledge as well as virtue to preserve your rights and liberties. By David Mccullough Liberties Wisdom Knowledge Virtue Preserve

Three things ruin a man," Harry would tell a reporter long afterward. "Power, money, and women. "I never wanted power," he said. "I never had any money, and the only woman in my life is up at the house right now." On By David Mccullough Harry Power Man Afterward Money

In truth, the situation was worse than they realized, and no one perceived this as clearly as Washington. Seeing things as they were, and not as he would wish them to be, was one of his salient strengths. By David Mccullough Washington Truth Realized Situation Worse

If Preston Brooks with his attack had brought him near death, was it not his old friend Appleton who had observed, "When good Americans die they go to Paris"? By David Mccullough Paris Preston Brooks Appleton Americans

They could imitate every movement of the wings of those gannets; we thought they were crazy, but we just had to admire the way they could move their arms this way and that and bend their elbows and wrist bones up and down and which way, just like the gannets. By David Mccullough Gannets Crazy Imitate Movement Wings

Remembered "the wind usually blows." Nowhere in the talk had he said a word about the gasoline By David Mccullough Remembered Blows Wind Gasoline Talk

The thought of going abroad makes my heart Leap," (Charles) Sumner wrote. "I feel, when I commune with myself about it, as when dwelling on the countenance and voice of a lovely girl. I am in love with Europa. By David Mccullough Charles Leap Sumner Wrote Thought

Housetops were covered with 'gazers'; all wharves that offered a view were jammed with people ... As British officers happily reminded one another, it was the largest fleet ever seen in American waters. In fact it was the largest expeditionary force of the 18th century, the largest, most powerful force ever sent forth by Britain or any other nation. By David Mccullough Gazers Largest Housetops People Covered

People often ask me if I'm working on a book. That's not how I feel. I feel like I work in a book. It's like putting myself under a spell. And this spell, if you will, is so real to me that if I have to leave my work for a few days, I have to work myself back into the spell when I come back. It's almost like hypnosis. By David Mccullough Book People Work Spell Feel

. . The Democratic Party puts human rights and human welfare first. . . . These Republican gluttons of privilege are cold men. They are cunning men. . . . They want a return of the Wall Street economic dictatorship. . By David Mccullough Democratic Party Men Human Republican

Elizabeth Blackwell, "with a very slender purse and few introductions of any value," found herself in the "unknown world" of Paris. What made her situation different from that of other American visitors was her profession. She was a doctor - the first American woman to have become a doctor. By David Mccullough Blackwell Paris Elizabeth Found Unknown

This is the clearest, most powerful summons yet, TO ALL OF US, to restore the American story to its rightful, vital place in American life and in how we educate our children. It couldn't be more timely and important. By David Mccullough American Clearest Rightful Vital Children

All of Johnstown's three or four blind people had survived the flood. By David Mccullough Johnstown Flood Blind People Survived

On a medical school professor noted for slowly, carefully interviewing the patient: He taught the love of truth. By David Mccullough Slowly Carefully Patient Truth Medical

The basic policy of the present [Japanese] government [said a combined Intelligence Committee report of July 8, 1945] is to fight as long and as desperately as possible in the hope of avoiding complete defeat and of acquiring a better bargaining position in a negotiated peace. Japanese leaders are now playing for time in the hope that Allied war weariness, Allied disunity, or some "miracle" will present an opportunity to arrange a compromise peace. By David Mccullough July Japanese Intelligence Committee Government

He worked at a plain, tall desk at which he wrote standing up or perched on a high stool, By David Mccullough Plain Tall Stool Worked Desk

In the North American Review, in August 1889, in an article titled "The Lesson of Conemaugh," the director of the U. S. Geological Survey, Major John Wesley Powell, wrote that the dam had not been "properly related to the natural conditions" and concluded: "Modern industries are handling the forces of nature on a stupendous scale. . . . Woe to the people who trust these powers to the hands of fools. By David Mccullough Review August Conemaugh North American

The evil of technology was not technology itself, Lindbergh came to see after the war, not in airplanes or the myriad contrivances of modern technical igenuity, but in the extent to which they can distance us from our better moral nature, or sense of personal accountability. By David Mccullough Lindbergh Technology War Igenuity Nature

People are so helpful. People will stop what they're doing to show you something, to walk with you through a section of the town, or explain how a suspension bridge really works. By David Mccullough People Helpful Town Works Stop

I don't pick my presidents because they were great presidents. I'm not much interested in ranking presidents and who is the best and who is the worst. I am much more inclined to be interested in them if they had an interesting life and if they were a complete person - and by that I mean they also had flaws and failings. By David Mccullough Presidents Pick Great Interested Worst

The pull, the attraction of history, is in our human nature. What makes us tick? Why do we do what we do? How much is luck the deciding factor? By David Mccullough Pull History Nature Attraction Human

America faces an enemy who believes in enforced ignorance. And all that we stand for is the open mind, the generous spirit, the ideal of tolerance, freedom, education, opportunity. By David Mccullough America Ignorance Faces Enemy Enforced

It must not remain our desire only to acquire the art of the bird," Lilienthal had written. "It is our duty not to rest until we have attained a perfect scientific conception of the problem of flight. By David Mccullough Lilienthal Bird Written Remain Desire

I love all sides of the work but that doesn't mean it isn't hard. By David Mccullough Hard Love Sides Work

In New York the Seligmans were major backers of the immensely profitable Pioneer Cattle Company, and Poultney Bigelow's father, the diplomat John Bigelow, was another of those tied into Teschemacher & DeBillier. By David Mccullough Bigelow Debillier Company Teschemacher York

We believed in a good God, a bad Devil, and a hot Hell, and more than anything else we believed that same God did not intend man should ever fly. By David Mccullough God Devil Hell Believed Fly

The change from the crowded, stifling hot, noisy confines of the workspace at Dayton to the open reaches of sea and sky on the Outer Banks could hardly have been greater or more welcome. They loved Kitty Hawk. "Every year adds to our comprehension of the wonders of this place," wrote Orville to Katharine soon after arrival. By David Mccullough Dayton Outer Banks Crowded Stifling

Only TR openly declared his love for the job. "Nobody ever enjoyed the presidency as I did," he boasted, and by all evidence that was so. "While president I have been president emphatically," he said. It By David Mccullough Job Openly Declared Love President

I feel that as much as I enjoy loafing, there is something higher for which to live. By David Mccullough Loafing Live Feel Enjoy Higher

For a West Point graduate to abandon his appointed task in the face of adversity or personal discomfort was all but inconceivable. By David Mccullough West Point Inconceivable Graduate Abandon

Read somewhat in the English poets every day. You will find them elegant, entertaining and constructive companions through your whole life. By David Mccullough English Read Day Poets Elegant

I think that we need history as much as we need bread or water or love. By David Mccullough Love History Bread Water

Yes, we have much to be seriously concerned about, much that needs to be corrected, improved, or dispensed with. But the vitality and creative energy, the fundamental decency, the tolerance and insistence on truth, and the good-heartedness of the American people are there still plainly. Many By David Mccullough Improved Corrected Concerned Dispensed American

Freedom is found through the portals of our nation's libraries. By David Mccullough Freedom Libraries Found Portals Nation

I'm very aware how many distractions the reader has in life today, how many good reasons there are to put the book down. By David Mccullough Today Aware Distractions Reader Life

He had kept his head, kept his health and his strength, bearing up under a weight of work and worry that only a few could have carried. By David Mccullough Head Strength Bearing Carried Health

Nothing ever invented can you a bigger life than a book. By David Mccullough Book Invented Bigger Life

When a bill was put before the state legislature in Jefferson City that would have prohibited anyone who owned a saloon from holding elective office and reporters asked what he thought of it, Alderman Jim said probably the bill was intended as a way of improving the reputation of saloonkeepers. By David Mccullough Alderman Bill Jefferson City Jim

If you get down about the state of American culture, just remember there are still more public libraries in this country than there are McDonalds. By David Mccullough American Culture Mcdonalds State Remember

A man who has not better government of his tongue, no more command of his temper, is unfit for everything but children's play and the company of boys. By David Mccullough Tongue Temper Boys Man Government

A man who will steal for me will steal from me. Theodore Roosevelt, dismissing on the spot one of his best cowhands who was about to claim for his boss an unmarked animal. By David Mccullough Steal Roosevelt Man Theodore Dismissing

Let no girl, no gun, no cards, no flutes, no violins, no dress, no tobacco, no laziness decoy you from your books. By David Mccullough Girl Gun Cards Flutes Violins

I can fairly be called an amateur because I do what I do, in the original sense of the word - for love, because I love it. On the other hand, I think that those of us who make our living writing history can also be called true professionals. By David Mccullough Love Called Word Fairly Amateur

A people unused to restraint must be led, they will not be drove. By David Mccullough Led Drove People Unused Restraint

You will ever remember that all the end of study is to make you a good man and a useful citizen, Adams By David Mccullough Adams Citizen Remember End Study

Just imagine if in his inaugural address John F. Kennedy had said, 'Ask not what your country can, you know, do for you, but what you can, like, do for your country actually, By David Mccullough Country John Kennedy Imagine Inaugural

You won't get fired if you do something, you will if you don't do anything. Do something if it is wrong, for you can correct that, but there is no way to correct nothing. By David Mccullough Fired Correct Wrong

Today's prime fact is war," Henry Stimson had said at the start of one Interim By David Mccullough Henry Interim Stimson Today War

Make business first, pleasure afterward, and that guarded. All the money anyone needs is just enough to prevent one from being a burden on others. He made a point of treating By David Mccullough Make Pleasure Afterward Guarded Business

If you haven't met Kenny (Young) you have not seen how the spirit of Boston can be embodied by one single man. By David Mccullough Young Kenny Boston Man Met

Unlike the people you see in Mathew Brady's photographs from the Civil War, the men and women of the Revolution seem more like characters in a costume pageant. And it's a pageant in which the performers are all handsome as stage actors, with uniforms and dress that are always costume perfect. By David Mccullough War Mathew Brady Civil Revolution

The past after all is only another name for someone else's present. By David Mccullough Present Past

The disaster at Johnstown was one that need never have happened and a powerful reminder that it can be terribly dangerous, even perilous, to assume that because people hold positions of responsibility they are therefore acting responsibly. By David Mccullough Johnstown Dangerous Perilous Responsibly Disaster

Once rolling the train would travel under the code name "POTUS," for "President of the United States, By David Mccullough Potus President States United Rolling

Common sense was sufficient to determine that it could not mean that all men were equal in fact, but in right, not all equally tall, strong, wise, handsome, active, but equally men . . . the work of the same Artist, children in the same cases entitled to the same justice. Nabby By David Mccullough Strong Wise Handsome Active Men

As time would prove, he had written one of the great, enduring documents of the American Revolution. The constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the oldest functioning written constitution in the world. By David Mccullough Revolution American Prove Great Enduring

marinate your mind By David Mccullough Marinate Mind

You've got to marinate your head, in that time and culture.You've got to become them.(Speaking about researching, and reading, and immersing yourself in History) By David Mccullough Speaking History Head Them Researching

California Congressman By David Mccullough Congressman California

from Switzerland, came into the valley By David Mccullough Switzerland Valley

I'm drawn particularly to stories that evolve out of the character of the protagonist. By David Mccullough Protagonist Drawn Stories Evolve Character

My love is to tell a story but I like stories that evolve from character, from the nature of the individuals involved. By David Mccullough Character Involved Love Story Stories

Why was it that a nation without wars to fight seemed to lose its honor and integrity, Adams pondered in one letter to Rush. "War necessarily brings with it some virtues, and great and heroic virtues, too," he wrote. "What horrid creatures we men are, that we cannot be virtuous without murdering one another?" Thousands By David Mccullough Adams Rush Integrity Virtues Nation

Our obligations to our country never cease but with our lives. - John Adams By David Mccullough Lives Obligations Country Cease John

For instead of being "the ardent pursuer of science" that some imagined, Jefferson was the captive of ambition, and ambition, Adams told John Quincy, was "the subtlest beast of the intellectual and moral field . . . [and] wonderfully adroit in concealing itself from its owner. By David Mccullough Ambition Jefferson Adams Quincy John

There is a human longing to go back to other times. We all know how when we were children we asked our parents, "What was it like when you were a kid?" I think it probably has something to do with our survival as a species. By David Mccullough Times Human Longing Back Parents

To hold the reader's attention, you have to bring the person who's reading the book inside the experience of the time: What was it like to have been alive then? What were these people like as human beings? By David Mccullough Attention Time Hold Reader Bring

Gerald Ford, one of the most admirable presidents of our time, once observed that if Lincoln were alive today, he'd be turning over in his grave. With By David Mccullough Ford Lincoln Gerald Time Today

History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. History is who we are and why we are the way we are. By David Mccullough History Times Guide Navigation Perilous

Wright died in his room at home at 7 Hawthorn Street at 3:15 in the morning, Thursday, May 30, 1912. He was forty-five years old. By David Mccullough Thursday Hawthorn Street Wright Morning

Lord Chatham, the King of Prussia, nay, Alexander the Great, never gained more in one campaign than the noble lord has lost-he has lost a whole continent. By David Mccullough Nay Chatham Prussia Alexander Great

I love Dickens. I love the way he sets a scene. By David Mccullough Dickens Love Scene Sets

We are all what we are, in large degree, because of others who have helped, coached, taught, counseled, who set a standard by example, who've taken an interest in our interests, opened doors, opened our minds, helped us see, who gave encouragement when we needed it, who reprimanded or prodded when we needed it, and at critical moments, inspired. By David Mccullough Opened Needed Coached Taught Counseled

Your father's zeal for books will be one of the last desires which will quit him, Abigail observed to John Quincy By David Mccullough Abigail Quincy John Father Zeal

If the attitude of the teacher toward the material is positive, enthusiastic, committed and excited, the students get that. If the teacher is bored, students get that and they get bored, quickly, instinctively. By David Mccullough Enthusiastic Teacher Students Positive Committed

Since September 11, it seems to me that never in our lifetime, except possibly in the early stages of World War II, has it been clearer that we have as a source of strength, a source of direction, a source of inspiration - our story. By David Mccullough Source September World War Lifetime

Vivez joyeux" was the old saying. "Live joyfully. By David Mccullough Vivez Joyeux Live Joyfully

The Reverend Chapman wrote later. I think none was afraid to meet God, but we all felt willing to put it off until a more propitious time . . . By David Mccullough Reverend Chapman God Wrote Time

tocsin of an ideological crusade, has no limits," Lippmann warned. By David Mccullough Lippmann Tocsin Crusade Limits Warned

Read. Read. Read. Read. Read great books. Read poetry, history, biography. Read the novels that have stood the test of time. And read closely. By David Mccullough Read History Biography Books Poetry

You can't be a full participant in our democracy if you don't know our history. By David Mccullough History Full Participant Democracy

Those for whom things came easily usually made less of an effort, not more. By David Mccullough Effort Things Easily Made

the formality of the presidency, all By David Mccullough Presidency Formality

much by tribulation, and by adversity our hearts By David Mccullough Tribulation Hearts Adversity

I think instead of opposing systematically any administration, running down their characters and opposing all their measures, right or wrong, we ought to support every administration as far as we can in justice. By David Mccullough Running Measures Wrong Justice Opposing

Brought home her college friends and put on By David Mccullough Brought Home College Friends Put

What was most striking about the long course of human events, Truman had concluded from his reading of history, were its elements of continuity, including, above all, human nature, which had changed little if at all through time. "The only new thing in the world is the history you don't know," he would one day tell an interviewer. By David Mccullough Truman Including Human Events Continuity

The man who wishes to keep at the problem long enough to really learn anything positively must not take dangerous risks. Carelessness and overconfidence are usually more dangerous than deliberately accepted risks. By David Mccullough Risks Dangerous Man Wishes Problem

The only new thing in the world is the history you don't know, By David Mccullough Thing World History

History isn't just what happened, but what happened to whom and why and what would have been different if the cast of characters had been different. By David Mccullough Happened History Cast Characters

We should draw on our story, we should draw on our history. If we don't know who we are, if we don't know how we became what we are, we're going to start suffering from all the obvious detrimental effects of amnesia. By David Mccullough Draw Story History Amnesia Start

it seems to me that one of the truths about history that needs to be made clear to a student or to a reader is that nothing ever had to happen the way it happened. By David Mccullough Happened Truths History Made Clear

No harm's done to history by making it something someone would want to read.(The Course of Human Events, NEH Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities 2003) By David Mccullough Events Neh Humanities Human Jefferson

I feel that history is in many ways the most important of all subjects because it is about everything and because it's about who we are and how we came to be the way we are. By David Mccullough Feel History Important Subjects

It would be the most crucial day of the entire war. By David Mccullough War Crucial Day Entire

There are people who are trying to write history for the general reader who can be quite tedious. That said, I do feel in my heart of hearts that if history isn't well written, it isn't going to be read, and if it isn't read it's going to die. By David Mccullough Tedious History People Write General

mendacity." He then introduced his son to the President, By David Mccullough Mendacity President Introduced Son

Morality only is eternal. All the rest is balloon and bubble from the cradle to the grave. By David Mccullough Morality Eternal Grave Rest Balloon

He held to the old guidelines: work hard, do your best, speak the truth, assume no airs, trust in God, have no fear. By David Mccullough God Guidelines Work Hard Speak

Death's door. "McKINLEY IS DYING," read the large headline By David Mccullough Death Door Dying Mckinley Read

We dared to hope we had invented something that would bring lasting peace to the earth. But we were wrong. . . By David Mccullough Earth Dared Hope Invented Bring

No bird soars in a calm. WILBUR WRIGHT By David Mccullough Calm Wilbur Wright Bird Soars

Bier, and I think it proper that I should try to clear the atmosphere. By David Mccullough Bier Atmosphere Proper Clear

The most interesting people are never perfect. By David Mccullough Perfect Interesting People

braced themselves. But on the morning of November By David Mccullough Braced November Morning

My wife, the star I steer by. By David Mccullough Wife Star Steer

It is my duty to bear everything that I cannot help. From By David Mccullough Duty Bear

The Democratic Party would win in November because the Democratic Party was the people's party. The Republicans were the party of the privileged few, as always. By David Mccullough Democratic Party November Win People

Facts are stubborn things, By David Mccullough Facts Things Stubborn

The title always comes last. What I really work hard on is the beginning. Where do you begin? In what tone do you begin? I almost have to have a scene in my mind. By David Mccullough Begin Title Beginning Work Hard

Washington was a man of exceptional, almost excessive self-command, rarely permitting himself any show of discouragement or despair. By David Mccullough Washington Exceptional Selfcommand Rarely Despair

It was an utterly phenomenal achievement. By David Mccullough Achievement Utterly Phenomenal

The title did not make the man, of course, but it enhanced the standing of the man in the eyes of others. By David Mccullough Man Title Make Enhanced Standing

It had taken four years. By David Mccullough Years

the, situation still By David Mccullough Situation

We learn much by tribulation, and by adversity our hearts are made better. By David Mccullough Tribulation Learn Adversity Hearts Made

Nobody ever lived in the past. By David Mccullough Past Lived

Bicycles were proclaimed morally hazardous. Until now children and youth were unable to stray very far from home on foot. Now, one magazine warned, fifteen minutes could put them miles away. Because of bicycles, it was said, young people were not spending the time they should with books, and more seriously that suburban and country tours on bicycles were "not infrequently accompanied by seductions. By David Mccullough Hazardous Bicycles Proclaimed Morally Foot

his recreational passion at Sagamore Hill that summer of 1903 was the so-called point-to-point "obstacle walk," the one rule, the only rule, being that the participant must go up and over, or through, every obstacle, never around it. By David Mccullough Rule Sagamore Hill Obstacle Socalled

My shorthand answer is that I try to write the kind of book that I would like to read. If I can make it clear and interesting and compelling to me, then I hope maybe it will be for the reader. By David Mccullough Read Shorthand Answer Write Kind

in every thing one must consider the end." The By David Mccullough End Thing

Recently been killed in an accident. Much that he read By David Mccullough Recently Accident Killed Read

Holmes, who was five years younger, had seen By David Mccullough Holmes Younger Years

To this noble end the delegates had pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. By David Mccullough Lives Fortunes Honor Noble End

By the close of summer, with increasing losses from disease, desertions, and absences of one sort or other, his army was in serious decline. Spirits suffered. The patriotic fervor that had sent thousands rushing to the scene in late April and May was hardly evident any longer. By David Mccullough Desertions Summer Disease Decline Close

We're all what we read to a very considerable degree. So By David Mccullough Degree Read Considerable

Only those who [do] nothing [make] no mistakes. By David Mccullough Make Mistakes

It is in Paris that the beating of Europe's heart is felt. Paris is the city of cities. - Victor Hugo By David Mccullough Europe Paris Felt Beating Heart

I steer my bark with hope in the head, leaving fear astern. Their By David Mccullough Head Leaving Astern Steer Bark

How can we know who we are and where we are going if we don't know anything about where we have come from and what we have been through, the courage shown, the costs paid, to be where we are? By David Mccullough Shown Paid Courage Costs

It is very bad policy to ask one flying machine man about the experiments of another, because every flying machine man thinks that his method is the only correct one. By David Mccullough Machine Flying Man Bad Policy

when you have something important to do, if there are two of you, you have one too many. By David Mccullough Important

I feel that what I do is a calling. I would pay to do what I do if I had to. I will never live long enough to do the work I want to do: the books I would like to write, the ideas I would like to explore. By David Mccullough Calling Feel Pay Write Explore

Every mind should be true to itself - should think, investigate and conclude for itself, wrote Ingersoll. By David Mccullough Ingersoll Investigate Wrote Mind True

oldest of all forms By David Mccullough Oldest Forms

Business is merely a form of warfare in which each combatant strives to get the business away from his competitors and at the same time keep them from getting what he already has. By David Mccullough Business Form Warfare Combatant Strives

A man who works for the immediate present and its immediate rewards is nothing but a fool. By David Mccullough Fool Man Works Present Rewards

One of the things about the arts that is so important is that in the arts you discover the only way to learn how to do it is by doing it. You can't write by reading a book about it. The only way to learn how to write a book is to sit down and try to write a book By David Mccullough Arts Write Book Learn Things

He wasn't a hero, or an original thinker. His beliefs were their beliefs, their way of talking was his way of talking. He was on their side. He was one of them. If he stumbled over a phrase or a name, he would grin and try again, and they would smile with By David Mccullough Hero Thinker Original Talking Beliefs

A lie," he was once heard to declare on the floor of the Senate, "is an abomination unto the Lord and an ever-present help in time of need. By David Mccullough Senate Lord Lie Heard Declare

Talk helps shape one's thoughts. By David Mccullough Talk Thoughts Shape

There are no people on earth in whom a spirit of enthusiastic zeal is so readily kindled, and burns so remarkably, as Americans By David Mccullough Americans Kindled Remarkably People Earth

Farmers and soldiers knew about the weather. Weather could be the great determiner between failure and success, the great test of one's staying power. By David Mccullough Farmers Weather Soldiers Knew Great

Eustatius in the Caribbean. At present, there was powder By David Mccullough Caribbean Eustatius Present Powder

Had proven himself a leader of remarkable ability, a man not only of enterprising ideas, but with the staying power to carry them out. By David Mccullough Ability Ideas Proven Leader Remarkable

I would pay to do what I do if I had to. By David Mccullough Pay

First of all, you can make the argument that there's no such thing as the past. Nobody lived in the past. By David Mccullough Past Make Argument Thing Lived

About these scientists," Truman said, "we need men with great intellects, need their ideas. But we need to balance them with other kinds of people, too. By David Mccullough Truman Scientists Intellects Ideas Men

Adams lay peacefully, his mind clear, by all signs. Then late in the afternoon, according to several who were present in the room, he stirred and whispered clearly enough to be understood, Thomas Jefferson survives. By David Mccullough Adams Peacefully Clear Signs Thomas

It is always easier to deal with things than with men, and no one can direct his life entirely as he would choose. -Wilbur Wright, 1911 By David Mccullough Men Choose Wilbur Wright Easier

a leader must look and act the part. By David Mccullough Part Leader Act

When I began, I thought that the way one should work was to do all the research and then write the book. By David Mccullough Began Book Thought Work Research

There's an awful temptation to just keep on researching. There comes a point where you just have to stop, and start writing. By David Mccullough Researching Awful Temptation Stop Writing

(now that tea was no longer acceptable), By David Mccullough Acceptable Tea Longer

one leg crossed nonchalantly over the other. By David Mccullough Leg Crossed Nonchalantly

Everybody wants something at the expense of everybody else and nobody thinks much of the other fellow," Truman By David Mccullough Truman Fellow Expense

In time I began to understand that it's when you start writing that you really find out what you don't know and need to know. By David Mccullough Time Began Understand Start Writing

until many years later. By David Mccullough Years

Among those who were about to stake so very much on him and his bridge, or who already had, there was not one who could honestly say he knew the man. By David Mccullough Bridge Man Stake Honestly Knew

No bird soars in a calm. By David Mccullough Calm Bird Soars

Patience which I assure you requires more force of character than does action. By David Mccullough Patience Action Assure Requires Force

The chief need was skill rather than machinery. It was impossible to fly without both knowledge and skill - of this Wilbur was already certain - and skill came only from experience - experience in the air. By David Mccullough Skill Machinery Chief Wilbur Experience

Nothing ever invented provides such sustenance, such infinite reward for time spent, as a good book. By David Mccullough