Courage is contagious. If a leader shows courage, others get the idea. — David McCullough Copy Share Image
If everyone is special, then no one is. If everyone gets a trophy, trophies become meaningless. — David McCullough Copy Share Image
I think it's important to remember that these men are not perfect. If they were marble gods, what they did wouldn't be… — David McCullough Copy Share Image
There are people who are trying to write history for the general reader who can be quite tedious. That said, I do… — David McCullough Copy Share Image
“How can we know who we are and where we are going if we don't know anything about where we have come… — David McCullough Copy Share Image
Find something to do that you love because then the work itself is always the reward not the recompense. And if you… — David McCullough Copy Share Image
If the attitude of the teacher toward the material is positive, enthusiastic, committed and excited, the students get that. If the teacher… — David McCullough Copy Share Image
History isn't just what happened, but what happened to whom and why and what would have been different if the cast of… — David McCullough Copy Share Image
If we think back through our own lives, the subjects that you liked best in school almost certainly were taught by the… — David McCullough Copy Share Image
I feel that what I do is a calling. I would pay to do what I do if I had to. I… — David McCullough Copy Share Image
People often ask me if I'm working on a book. That's not how I feel. I feel like I work in a… — David McCullough Copy Share Image
I feel very strongly that history is about everything. It isn't just about politics or the military or social issues. If art,… — David McCullough Copy Share Image
I think the public library system is one of the most amazing American institutions. Free for everybody. If you ever get the… — David McCullough Copy Share Image
You can make the argument that there's no such thing as the past. Nobody lived in the past. They lived in the… — David McCullough Copy Share Image
We still dislike hypocrites. It's a very American characteristic. We still like people who have ideas and who are willing to stand… — David McCullough Copy Share Image
I don't pick my presidents because they were great presidents. I'm not much interested in ranking presidents and who is the best… — David McCullough Copy Share Image
We should draw on our story, we should draw on our history. If we don't know who we are, if we don't… — David McCullough Copy Share Image
You can't love what you don't know much about. You can't convince, stimulate, hold the attention, teach, if you don't know what… — David McCullough Copy Share Image
With the Truman book, I wrote the entire account of his experiences in World War I before going over to Europe to follow his… — David McCullough Copy Share
“Steamboats by this time were becoming a familiar presence on the rivers and coastal waters of America, but not until 1838 did steam-powered ships… — David McCullough Copy Share
I feel that history is in many ways the most important of all subjects because it is about everything and because it's about who… — David McCullough Copy Share
“Even mighty states and kingdoms are not exempted. If we look into history, we shall find some nations rising from contemptible beginnings and spreading… — David McCullough Copy Share
History isn't just what happened, but what happened to whom and why and what would have been different if the cast of characters had… — David McCullough Copy Share
“Only TR openly declared his love for the job. “Nobody ever enjoyed the presidency as I did,” he boasted, and by all evidence that… — David McCullough Copy Share
“s ships Phoenix and Rose, in the company of three tenders, cast off their moorings at Staten Island and started up the harbor under… — David McCullough Copy Share
“a people may let a King fall, yet still remain a people, but if a King let his people slip from him, he is… — David McCullough Copy Share
Why limit yourself to the experience of your own relatively brief time on earth, according to your biological clock, when the whole realm of… — David McCullough Copy Share
“He worked at a plain, tall desk at which he wrote standing up or perched on a high stool,” — David McCullough Copy Share
“Nothing happens in isolation. Everything that happens has consequences. We” — David McCullough Copy Share
America faces an enemy who believes in enforced ignorance. And all that we stand for is the open mind, the generous spirit, the ideal… — David McCullough Copy Share
My shorthand answer is that I try to write the kind of book that I would like to read. If I can make it… — David McCullough Copy Share
“Seen under the microscope, Stegomyia is a creature of striking beauty. Its general color is dark gray, but the thorax is marked with a… — David McCullough Copy Share
