“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)” ThinkingWritingThoughtClarityCreative ProcessPrecision Author:David McCullough
“The source of our suffering has been our timidity. We have been afraid to think....Let us dare to read, think, speak, write.” ThinkingWritingHas BeensSufferingSpeakSourceDareTimidity Book:John Adams Source: John Adams
“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.” IfsThinkingStillsCultureDoorsWorstInstitutionsLibraryAmerican CultureMcdonaldsMost AmazingPublic Library Author:David McCullough
“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.” ThinkingWayMayTurnsCoursesTeacherSubjectsTaughtFascinatingProfessorsGreat Teacher Author:David McCullough
“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.” ThinkingWantIdeasJoyFoundPleasureMorningOughtBedEaseFulfillingGood EducationPleasures Of LifeWork You Love Author:David McCullough
“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.” PeopleThinkingMindAgeSpeakSubjectsPicksOld AgeRelaxMaskDroppingRipeCandorOlder People Author:David McCullough
“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.” IfsThinkingSchoolTeacherSubjectsTaught Author:David McCullough
“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.” ThinkingKnowsHumansChildrenKidsParentKnow HowSurvivalLongingSpecies Author:David McCullough
“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.” ThinkingWayWritingWellsHardPlayPiano Author:David McCullough
“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.” PeopleThinkingWayShouldLyingAliveTalentIncludingPublic SpeakingDormant Author:David McCullough
“I often think of that when I hear people say that they haven't time to read.” PeopleThinkingHavens Author:David McCullough
“I think that we need history as much as we need bread or water or love.” ThinkingNeedsWaterBread Author:David McCullough
“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.” ThinkingMenWorldWellsCountryYoungEnergyInspireElectionExtraordinaryInspiredOur CountryBarackYoung ManRemarkableTemperamentGoatsTurning PointsDemeanor Author:David McCullough
“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.” ThinkingHappensSchoolLife IsResourcesLibraryAvailableParts Of LifePublic Library Author:David McCullough
“Develop and protect a moral sensibility and demonstrate the character to apply it. Dream big. Work hard. Think for yourself. Love everything you love, everyone you love, with all your might. And do so, please, with a sense of urgency, for every tick of the clock subtracts from fewer and fewer...” ThinkingHardCharacterDreamBigsMightMoralHard WorkSelf LovePleaseProtectClockFewerSensibilityUrgencyTickOne You LoveLove EveryoneThink For YourselfSense Of UrgencyHigh School Graduation SpeechHigh School Commencement Author: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.” ThinkingWritingI CanHandsLove IsOriginalsWriting History Author:David McCullough
“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.” IfsThinkingMenHumansImportantRememberPerfectFoundersMarbleAdmirableNot Perfect Author:David McCullough
“To write is to think, and to write well is to think well.” ThinkingWritingWells Author:David McCullough
“Writing is thinking. To write well is to think clearly. That's why it's so hard.” ThinkingWritingWellsHardPurposeClarity Author:David McCullough
