“At one time he [Cornelius Vanderbilt] personally controlled some 10 percent of all the money in circulation in the United States.” — Bill Bryson Copy Share Image
The world at night, for much of history, was a very dark place indeed. — Bill Bryson Copy Share Image
...and it occurred to me, with the forcefulness of a thought experienced in 360 degrees, that that's really what history mostly is:… — Bill Bryson Copy Share Image
Look at a globe and what you are seeing really is a snapshot of the continents as they have been for just… — Bill Bryson Copy Share Image
“The real significance of Magellan's voyage was not that it was the first to circumnavigate the planet, but that it was the… — Bill Bryson Copy Share Image
Open your refrigerator door, and you summon forth more light than the total amount enjoyed by most households in the 18th century.… — Bill Bryson Copy Share Image
The world is very lucky to have America. It's got to be the first time in the whole history of the planet… — Bill Bryson Copy Share Image
“Nothing - really, absolutely nothing - says more about Victorian Britain and its capacity for brilliance than that the century's most daring… — Bill Bryson Copy Share Image
All the things that are part of your heritage make you British - that makes this country what it is. It's part… — Bill Bryson Copy Share Image
“On this scale, according to John McPhee in Basin and Range, the distance from the fingertips of one hand to the wrist… — Bill Bryson Copy Share Image
“Just a month after the completion of the Declaration of Independence, at a time when he delegates might have been expected to… — Bill Bryson Copy Share Image
For anyone of a rational disposition, fashion is often nearly impossible to fathom. Throughout many periods of history – perhaps most –… — Bill Bryson Copy Share Image
“Vitamin B proved to be not one vitamin but several, which is why we have B1, B2, and so on. To add… — Bill Bryson Copy Share Image
“As humans we are inclined to feel that life must have a point. We have plans and aspirations and desires. We want… — Bill Bryson Copy Share Image
It's hard not to be kind of pessimistic about human beings generally, because we do tend to mess things up. If you… — Bill Bryson Copy Share Image
“From that original colony sprang seven names that still feature on the landscape: Roanoke (which has the distinction of being the first… — Bill Bryson Copy Share Image
“Shakespeare 'never owned a book,' a writer for the New York Times gravely informed readers in one doubting article in 2002. The… — Bill Bryson Copy Share Image
“Every atom you possess has almost certainly passed through several stars and been part of millions of organisms on its way to… — Bill Bryson Copy Share Image
“Considerable thought was given in early Congresses to the possibility of renaming the country. From the start, many people recognized that United… — Bill Bryson Copy Share Image
“Because bread was so important, the laws governing its purity were strict and the punishment severe. A baker who cheated his customers… — Bill Bryson Copy Share Image
“Even the simplest things had a glorious pointlessness to them. When buttons came in, about 1650, people couldn't get enough of them… — Bill Bryson Copy Share Image
“Now as I stood on the roof of my house, taking in this unexpected view, it struck me how rather glorious it… — Bill Bryson Copy Share Image
“Life, in short, just wants to be. But—and here’s an interesting point—for the most part it doesn’t want to be much. This… — Bill Bryson Copy Share Image
“If you imagine the 4,500-bilion-odd years of Earth's history compressed into a normal earthly day, then life begins very early, about 4… — Bill Bryson Copy Share Image
And I find chopsticks frankly distressing. Am I alone in thinking it odd that a people ingenious enough to invent paper, gunpowder,… — Bill Bryson Copy Share Image
“One of the things that I wanted to find out when I started working on the book—that's always fascinated me—I have great… — Bill Bryson Copy Share Image
“Portability also explains why many old chests and trunks had domed lids- to throw off water during travel. The great drawback of… — Bill Bryson Copy Share Image
Most big companies don't like you very much, except hotels, airlines and Microsoft, which don't like you at all. — Bill Bryson Copy Share
“But Welsh spellings are as nothing compared with Irish Gaelic, a language in which spelling and pronunciation give the impression of having been devised… — Bill Bryson Copy Share
“Pantaloons were often worn tight as paint and were not a great deal less revealing, particularly as they were worn without underwear. . .… — Bill Bryson Copy Share
If you go out on the Appalachian Trail, you have to bring so much more equipment - a tent, sleeping bag - but if… — Bill Bryson Copy Share
“The dining table was a plain board called by that name. It was hung on the wall when not in use, and was perched… — Bill Bryson Copy Share
“From almost nothing, France in four years built up an aircraft industry that employed nearly 200,000 people and produced some 70,000 planes. Britain built… — Bill Bryson Copy Share
“Every twenty minutes on the Appalachian Trail, Katz and I walked farther than the average American walks in a week. For 93 percent of… — Bill Bryson Copy Share
“A diarist named George Templeton Strong recorded in the winter of 1866 that even with two furnaces alight and all the fireplaces blazing, he… — Bill Bryson Copy Share
Tune your television to any channel it doesn't receive and about 1 percent of the dancing static you see is accounted for by this… — Bill Bryson Copy Share
As a rule of thumb, I would submit that if you need to call your floss provider, for any reason, you are probably not… — Bill Bryson Copy Share
Nobody gets excited about the future at all, ever. The future is something we find depressing and worrisome. — Bill Bryson Copy Share
“What made this particularly interesting is that John Howard is by far the dullest man in Australia. Imagine a very committed funeral home director… — Bill Bryson Copy Share
I would make a genuinely terrible guide. I can't remember things. I would get half way through telling a story or explaining something and… — Bill Bryson Copy Share
“In the mystifying world that was Victorian parenthood, obedience took precedence over all considerations of affection and happiness, and that odd, painful conviction remained… — Bill Bryson Copy Share
If this book has a lesson, it is that we are awfully lucky to be here-and by 'we' I mean every living thing. To… — Bill Bryson Copy Share
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