Quote by Bill Bryson

““He wrote authoritatively on magnetism, tides and the motions of the planets, and fondly on the effects of opium.””

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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.

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“But Welsh spellings are as nothing compared with Irish Gaelic, a language in which spelling and pronunciation give the impression of having been devised by separate committees, meeting in separate rooms, while implacably divided over some deep semantic issue. Try pronouncing geimhreadh, Gaelic for “winter,” and you will probably come up with something like “gem-reed-uh.” It is in fact “gyeeryee.”…

Bill Bryson

“Pantaloons were often worn tight as paint and were not a great deal less revealing, particularly as they were worn without underwear. . .…

Bill Bryson

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If you go out on the Appalachian Trail, you have to bring so much more equipment - a tent, sleeping bag - but if…

Bill Bryson

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“The dining table was a plain board called by that name. It was hung on the wall when not in use, and was perched on the diners' knees when food was served. Over time, the word board came to signify not just the dining surface but the meal itself, which is where the board comes from in room and board.…

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…

Bill Bryson