---
title: "2 Ordinary things Quotes By Bill Bryson"
description: "2 Ordinary things quotes by Bill Bryson. Plus more from Bill Bryson and more Ordinary things sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/305/bill-bryson-340_degrees_and-it-occurred-to-me-with-the-forcefuln_1163623.jpg"
---

> [...and it occurred to me, with the forcefulness of a thought experienced in 360 degrees, that that's really what history mostly is: masses of people doing ordinary things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/and-it-occurred-to-me-with-the-forcefulness-of-a-thought-experienced/)

[Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/305/bill-bryson-340_degrees_and-it-occurred-to-me-with-the-forcefuln_1163623.jpg)

> [“Now as I stood on the roof of my house, taking in this unexpected view, it struck me how rather glorious it was that in two thousand years of human activity the only thing that had stirred the notice of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/now-as-i-stood-on-the-roof-of-my-house-taking-in-this-unexpected-view/)

[Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a43/bill-bryson-340_daily-business_now-as-i-stood-on-the-roof-of-my-house-t_1912408.png)

## Other authors on Ordinary things

## More by Bill Bryson

> [Most big companies don't like you very much, except hotels, airlines and Microsoft, which don't like you at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/most-big-companies-don-t-like-you-very-much-except-hotels-airlines/)

[Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/)

> [“But Welsh spellings are as nothing compared with Irish Gaelic, a language in which spelling and pronunciation give the impression of having been devised…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/but-welsh-spellings-are-as-nothing-compared-with-irish-gaelic-a/)

[Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/)

> [“Pantaloons were often worn tight as paint and were not a great deal less revealing, particularly as they were worn without underwear. . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/pantaloons-were-often-worn-tight-as-paint-and-were-not-a-great-deal/)

[Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/)

> [If you go out on the Appalachian Trail, you have to bring so much more equipment - a tent, sleeping bag - but if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/if-you-go-out-on-the-appalachian-trail-you-have-to-bring-so-much-more/)

[Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/)

> [“The dining table was a plain board called by that name. It was hung on the wall when not in use, and was perched…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/the-dining-table-was-a-plain-board-called-by-that-name-it-was-hung-on/)

[Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/)

> [“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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/from-almost-nothing-france-in-four-years-built-up-an-aircraft/)

[Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/)

> [“Every twenty minutes on the Appalachian Trail, Katz and I walked farther than the average American walks in a week. For 93 percent of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/every-twenty-minutes-on-the-appalachian-trail-katz-and-i-walked/)

[Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/)

> [“A diarist named George Templeton Strong recorded in the winter of 1866 that even with two furnaces alight and all the fireplaces blazing, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/a-diarist-named-george-templeton-strong-recorded-in-the-winter-of/)

[Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/)

> [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/tune-your-television-to-any-channel-it-doesn-t-receive-and-about-1/)

[Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/)

> [As a rule of thumb, I would submit that if you need to call your floss provider, for any reason, you are probably not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/as-a-rule-of-thumb-i-would-submit-that-if-you-need-to-call-your-floss/)

[Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/)

> [Nobody gets excited about the future at all, ever. The future is something we find depressing and worrisome.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/nobody-gets-excited-about-the-future-at-all-ever-the-future-is/)

[Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/)

> [“What made this particularly interesting is that John Howard is by far the dullest man in Australia. Imagine a very committed funeral home director…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/what-made-this-particularly-interesting-is-that-john-howard-is-by-far/)

[Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/)

> [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/i-would-make-a-genuinely-terrible-guide-i-can-t-remember-things-i/)

[Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/)

> [“In the mystifying world that was Victorian parenthood, obedience took precedence over all considerations of affection and happiness, and that odd, painful conviction remained…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/in-the-mystifying-world-that-was-victorian-parenthood-obedience-took/)

[Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/)

> [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/if-this-book-has-a-lesson-it-is-that-we-are-awfully-lucky-to-be-here/)

[Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "ItemList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ordinary-things/bill-bryson/#itemlist",
            "name": "2 Ordinary things Quotes By Bill Bryson",
            "numberOfItems": 2,
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "...and it occurred to me, with the forcefulness of a thought experienced in 360 degrees, that that's really what history mostly is: masses of people doing ordinary things.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Bill Bryson"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/and-it-occurred-to-me-with-the-forcefulness-of-a-thought-experienced/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/305/bill-bryson-340_degrees_and-it-occurred-to-me-with-the-forcefuln_1163623.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/305/bill-bryson-340_degrees_and-it-occurred-to-me-with-the-forcefuln_1163623.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/305/bill-bryson-340_degrees_and-it-occurred-to-me-with-the-forcefuln_1163623.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“...and it occurred to me, with the forcefulness of a thought experienced in 360 degrees, that that's really…” — Bill Bryson",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“Now as I stood on the roof of my house, taking in this unexpected view, it struck me how rather glorious it was that in two thousand years of human activity the only thing that had stirred the notice of the outside world even briefly was the finding of a Roman phallic pendant. The rest was just centuries of people quietly going about their daily business - eating, sleeping, having sex, endeavoring to be amused- and it occurred to me, with the forcefulness of a thought experienced in 360 degrees, that that's really what history mostly is: masses of people doing ordinary things. Even Einstein will have spent large parts of his life thinking about his holidays o new hammock or how dainty was the ankle on the young lady alighting from the tram across the street. These are the sort of things that fill our life and thoughts, and yet we treat them as incidental and hardly worthy of serious consideration. I don't know how many hours of my school years were spent considering the Missouri Compromise or the War of the Roses, but it was vastly more than I was ever encouraged or allowed to give to the history of eating. sleeping, having sex and endeavoring to be amused.”",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Bill Bryson"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/now-as-i-stood-on-the-roof-of-my-house-taking-in-this-unexpected-view/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a43/bill-bryson-340_daily-business_now-as-i-stood-on-the-roof-of-my-house-t_1912408.png",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a43/bill-bryson-340_daily-business_now-as-i-stood-on-the-roof-of-my-house-t_1912408.png",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a43/bill-bryson-340_daily-business_now-as-i-stood-on-the-roof-of-my-house-t_1912408.png",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“Now as I stood on the roof of my house, taking in this unexpected view, it struck me how rather glorious it…” — Bill Bryson",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "CollectionPage",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ordinary-things/bill-bryson/#webpage",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ordinary-things/bill-bryson/",
            "name": "Ordinary things Quotes by Bill Bryson",
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "mainEntity": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ordinary-things/bill-bryson/#itemlist"
            },
            "primaryImageOfPage": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/305/bill-bryson-340_degrees_and-it-occurred-to-me-with-the-forcefuln_1163623.jpg"
            },
            "description": "2 Ordinary things quotes by Bill Bryson. Plus more from Bill Bryson and more Ordinary things sayings from other authors.",
            "breadcrumb": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ordinary-things/bill-bryson/#breadcrumb"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ordinary-things/bill-bryson/#breadcrumb",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Topics",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Ordinary Things",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ordinary-things/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 5,
                    "name": "Bill Bryson",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ordinary-things/bill-bryson/"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
