David McCullough Quotes & Sayings (Page 2)

“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.”

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

“Every book is a new journey. I never felt I was an expert on a subject as I embarked on a project.”

“Real success is finding you lifework in the work that you love.”

“In time I began to understand that it's when you start writing that you really find out what you don't know and need to know.”

“When I began, I thought that the way one should work was to do all the research and then write the book.”

“People are so helpful. People will stop what they're doing to show you something, to walk with you through a section of the town, or explain how a suspension bridge really works.”

“First of all, you can make the argument that there's no such thing as the past. Nobody lived in the past.”

“I would pay to do what I do if I had to.”

“No harm's done to history by making it something someone would want to read.”