“I swear on Peter Stuyvesant’s peg leg that the country that became the U.S. bears a closer family resemblance to the devil-may-care merchants of New Amsterdam than it does to Boston’s communitarian English majors.” — Sarah Vowell Copy Share Image
“I wish it were different. I wish that we privileged knowledge in politicians, that the ones who know things didn't have to hide it behind brown pants, and that the know-not-enoughs were laughed all the way to the Maine border… — Sarah Vowell Copy Share Image
“She is either male property (Mrs.), wannabe male property (Miss), or man-hating harpy (Ms.).” — Sarah Vowell Copy Share Image
“We were breathing sooty air. The soot was composed of incinerated glass and steel but also, we knew, incinerated human flesh. When the local… — Sarah Vowell Copy Share Image
“After Hymns and tears, they boarded the brig Thaddeus, a vessel so crappy, it made the Mayflower look like the QE2.” — Sarah Vowell Copy Share Image
“The last line of Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen is addressed to the American people and their congressmen. "As they deal with me and… — Sarah Vowell Copy Share Image
“In the gravedigger scene in act V, Hamlet looks upon an anonymous skull and jokes that even Alexander the Great decomposed into dust that… — Sarah Vowell Copy Share Image
“Another reason I’m intrigued with the hanged of Salem, especially the women, is that a number of them aroused suspicion in the first place… — Sarah Vowell Copy Share Image
Listening to the radio every day for an entire year was a prison sentence. It was the most depressing, annoying, debilitating project I have… — Sarah Vowell Copy Share Image
That's what I like to call him, "the current president." I find it difficult to say or type his name, George W. Bush. I… — Sarah Vowell Copy Share Image
“The historical periods I like to learn about aren’t so much costume dramas as slasher flicks. The French Revolution is a favorite because it… — Sarah Vowell Copy Share Image
While I gave up God a long time ago, I never shook the habit of wanting to believe in something. So I replaced my… — Sarah Vowell Copy Share Image
