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. David McCullough More Quotes by David McCullough More Quotes From David McCullough 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? David McCullough time-on-earth clock limits 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. David McCullough teacher school thinking The fulfilling life, the distinctive life, the relevant life, is an achievement... To do whatever you do for no reason other than you love it and believe in its importance. David McCullough achievement life-is believe I just thank my father and mother, my lucky stars, that I had the advantage of an education in the humanities. David McCullough stars mother father I think it's important to remember that these men are not perfect. If they were marble gods, what they did wouldn't be so admirable. The more we see the founders as humans the more we can understand them. David McCullough perfect men thinking If everyone is special, then no one is. If everyone gets a trophy, trophies become meaningless. David McCullough trophies ifs special 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. David McCullough pursuit-of-happiness hard-work mean 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? David McCullough who-we-are cost knows The first of all qualities of a general is courage. David McCullough quality courage firsts No harm's done to history by making it something someone would want to read. David McCullough done want history 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. David McCullough hypnosis real book 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. David McCullough saws age book 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. David McCullough mother morning children I think that we need history as much as we need bread or water or love. David McCullough water needs thinking 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. David McCullough may teacher thinking Curiosity is what separates us from the cabbages. It's accelerative. The more we know, the more we want to know. David McCullough cabbage curiosity want Real success is finding your life work in the work that you love. That's it. Don't worry about making a living, don't worry about popularity or fame. Make what you do ... count more than what you own. David McCullough popularity real worry The source of our suffering has been our timidity. We have been afraid to think....Let us dare to read, think, speak, write. David McCullough suffering writing thinking 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? David McCullough tick human-nature luck I love all sides of the work but that doesn't mean it isn't hard. David McCullough two-sides sides mean
