274 Quotes by David McCullough

You can’t be a full participant in our democracy if you don’t know our history.

There are people who are trying to write history for the general reader who can be quite tedious. That said, I do feel in my heart of hearts that if history isn’t well written, it isn’t going to be read, and if it isn’t read it’s going to die.

Read. Read every chance you get. Read to keep growing. Read history. Read poetry. Read for pure enjoyment. Read a book called Life on a Little Known Planet. It’s about insects. It will make you feel better.

I love all sides of the work but that doesn’t mean it isn’t hard.

There’s an awful temptation to just keep on researching. There comes a point where you just have to stop, and start writing.

I’m very aware how many distractions the reader has in life today, how many good reasons there are to put the book down.

With the Truman book, I wrote the entire account of his experiences in World War I before going over to Europe to follow his tracks in the war. When I got there, there was a certain satisfaction in finding I had it right – it does look like that.

I think it’s best to pick a biographical subject who lives to a ripe old age. Older people tend to relax and speak their minds. They’re dropping some of the masks that they’ve been wearing. There’s a candor.

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 you’re talking about.