You can't be a full participant in our democracy if you don't know our history.

Quote by David McCullough

Topics: David McCullough Quotes

I work very hard on the writing, writing and rewriting and trying to weed out...

I work very hard on the writing, writing and rewriting and trying to weed out...

My shorthand answer is that I try to write the kind of book that I...

My shorthand answer is that I try to write the kind of book that I...

There's an awful temptation to just keep on researching. There comes a point where you...

There's an awful temptation to just keep on researching. There comes a point where you...

The title always comes last. What I really work hard on is the beginning. Where...

The title always comes last. What I really work hard on is the beginning. Where...

When I began, I thought that the way one should work was to do all...

When I began, I thought that the way one should work was to do all...

I just thank my father and mother, my lucky stars, that I had the advantage...

I just thank my father and mother, my lucky stars, that I had the advantage...

In time I began to understand that it's when you start writing that you really...

In time I began to understand that it's when you start writing that you really...

People ask me when I start one of these projects, what is your theme? I...

People ask me when I start one of these projects, what is your theme? I...

People are so helpful. People will stop what they're doing to show you something, to...

People are so helpful. People will stop what they're doing to show you something, to...

I would pay to do what I do if I had to.

I would pay to do what I do if I had to.

With the Truman book, I wrote the entire account of his experiences in World War...

With the Truman book, I wrote the entire account of his experiences in World War...

I'm very aware how many distractions the reader has in life today, how many good...

I'm very aware how many distractions the reader has in life today, how many good...

May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof.

May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof.

No harm's done to history by making it something someone would want to read.

No harm's done to history by making it something someone would want to read.

I had been writing for about twelve years. I knew pretty well how you could...

I had been writing for about twelve years. I knew pretty well how you could...

I can fairly be called an amateur because I do what I do, in the...

I can fairly be called an amateur because I do what I do, in the...

The pull, the attraction of history, is in our human nature. What makes us tick?...

The pull, the attraction of history, is in our human nature. What makes us tick?...

My next book is also set in the eighteenth century. It's about the Revolution, with...

My next book is also set in the eighteenth century. It's about the Revolution, with...

When I read that the British army had landed thirty-two thousand troops - and I...

When I read that the British army had landed thirty-two thousand troops - and I...

To go back and read Swift and Defoe and Samuel Johnson and Smollett and Pope...

To go back and read Swift and Defoe and Samuel Johnson and Smollett and Pope...