76 Quotes by Stephen Ambrose

The past is a source of knowledge, and the future is a source of hope. Love of the past implies faith in the future.

When Hitler declared war on the United States, he was betting that German soldiers, raised up in the Hitler Youth, would always out fight American soldiers, brought up in the Boy Scouts. He lost that bet. The Boy Scouts had been taught how to figure their way out of their own problems.

There are many rules of good writing, but the best way to find them is to be a good reader.

War creates many strange juxtapositions, perhaps none stranger than this: men who are doing their utmost to kill other men can transform in a split second into lifesavers. Soldiers who encounter a wounded man (often an enemy) become tender, caring angels of mercy. The urge to kill and the urge to save sometimes run together simultaneously.

... you can manufacture weapons, and you can purchase ammunition, but you can’t buy valor and you can’t pull heroes off an assembly line.

Dams have harmed our wildlife and made rivers less useful for recreation.

The Holocaust was the most evil crime ever committed.

The more sophisticated we get, the more advanced our buildings and vehicles become, the more vulnerable we are.

Eisenhower had the clearest blue eyes. He would fix them on you. In my every interview with him, he would lock his eyes on to mine and keep them there.