---
title: "1 Adopting Quotes By William Manchester"
description: "1 Adopting quotes by William Manchester. Plus more from William Manchester and more Adopting sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94e/william-manchester-18393_adopting_the-coconut-trees-lithe-and-graceful-cro_2700597.jpg"
---

> [The coconut trees, lithe and graceful, crowd the beach like a minuet of slender elderly virgins adopting flippant poses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/the-coconut-trees-lithe-and-graceful-crowd-the-beach-like-a-minuet-of/)

[William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94e/william-manchester-18393_adopting_the-coconut-trees-lithe-and-graceful-cro_2700597.jpg)

## Other authors on Adopting

## More by William Manchester

> [ It is true that despite occasional gleams of Churchillian eloquence he \[Gen. Douglas MacArthur\] usually spoke poorly. He was far more effective in conversations… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/it-is-true-that-despite-occasional-gleams-of-churchillian-eloquence/)

[William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/)

> [Men do not fight for flag or country, for the Marine Corps or glory or any other abstraction. They fight for one another. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/men-do-not-fight-for-flag-or-country-for-the-marine-corps-or-glory-or/)

[William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/)

> [Actors who have tried to play Churchill and MacArthur have failed abysmally because each of those men was a great actor playing himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/actors-who-have-tried-to-play-churchill-and-macarthur-have-failed/)

[William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/)

> [I realized that the worst thing that could happen to me was about to happen to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/i-realized-that-the-worst-thing-that-could-happen-to-me-was-about-to/)

[William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/)

> [“The key to successful extramarital sex, therefore, was discretion. Mrs. Patrick Campbell, perhaps the most outspoken woman in polite society, said dryly: “It doesn’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/the-key-to-successful-extramarital-sex-therefore-was-discretion-mrs/)

[William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/)

> [“It was Churchill who called John Foster Dulles “the only bull who brings his own china shop with him,” and who coined the progression,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/it-was-churchill-who-called-john-foster-dulles-the-only-bull-who/)

[William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/)

> [I came to a dead stop and began major revisions. Sometimes these entailed the shredding of all existing manuscript for a fresh start -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/i-came-to-a-dead-stop-and-began-major-revisions-sometimes-these/)

[William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/)

> [A man's task is to find himself, and if he fails in this, it doesn't much matter what else he finds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/a-man-s-task-is-to-find-himself-and-if-he-fails-in-this-it-doesn-t/)

[William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/)

> [He was a great thundering paradox of a man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/he-was-a-great-thundering-paradox-of-a-man/)

[William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/)

> [“Byron wrote his shortest and most eloquent poem as a testament to a titled woman who had taken leave of her husband for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/byron-wrote-his-shortest-and-most-eloquent-poem-as-a-testament-to-a/)

[William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/)

> [ His \[Gen. Douglas MacArthur's\] own heroes were Lincoln and Washington, and in some ways he resembled them. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/his-gen-douglas-macarthur-s-own-heroes-were-lincoln-and-washington/)

[William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/)

> [But there are no loners. No man lives in a void. His every act is conditioned by his time and his society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/but-there-are-no-loners-no-man-lives-in-a-void-his-every-act-is/)

[William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/)

> [As she sallied forth from her boudoir, you would never have guessed how quickly she could strip for action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/as-she-sallied-forth-from-her-boudoir-you-would-never-have-guessed/)

[William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/)

> [“In 1988, William Manchester began writing The Last Lion: Defender of the Realm, the third and final volume of his biography of Winston Churchill.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/in-1988-william-manchester-began-writing-the-last-lion-defender-of/)

[William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/)

> [ His \[Gen. Douglas MacArthur's\] own heroes were Lincoln and Washington, and in some ways he resembled them. Like them, he was slandered and misunderstood. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/his-gen-douglas-macarthur-s-own-heroes-were-lincoln-and-washington-2/)

[William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/)

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