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. David McCullough More Quotes by David McCullough More Quotes From David McCullough 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. David McCullough bored attitude teacher 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. David McCullough president mean interesting 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. David McCullough powerful views people Washington was a man of exceptional, almost excessive self-command, rarely permitting himself any show of discouragement or despair. David McCullough self courage men There's no such thing as a foreseeable future. David McCullough 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. David McCullough writing love-is thinking 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. David McCullough weight worry 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. David McCullough twelve writing years I love Dickens. I love the way he sets a scene. David McCullough dickens scene way I feel that as much as I enjoy loafing, there is something higher for which to live. David McCullough enjoy higher feels 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 David McCullough reading book art 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. David McCullough men country thinking It was an utterly phenomenal achievement. David McCullough phenomenal achievement The preparations were elaborate and mammoth in scale, and Washington threw himself into the effort, demanding that not an hour be lost. David McCullough hours effort preparation Nothing ever invented can you a bigger life than a book. David McCullough bigger book Morality only is eternal. All the rest is balloon and bubble from the cradle to the grave. David McCullough cradle balloons morality The more we see the founders as humans the more we can understand them. David McCullough founders humans 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. David McCullough leader self perfect 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. David McCullough knows writing needs I lament the want of a liberal education. I feel the mist of ignorance to surround me - Nathanael Greene David McCullough mist ignorance want
