“To me, history ought to be a source of pleasure. It isn't just part of our civic responsibility. To me, it's an enlargement of the experience of being alive, just the way literature or art or music is.” ― David McCullough”

“To me, history ought to be a source of pleasure. It isn't just part of our civic responsibility. To me, it's an enlargement of the experience of being alive, just the way literature or art or music is."[The Title Always Comes Last; NEH 2003 Jefferson Lecturer interview profile]”

“History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. History is who we are and why we are the way we are. ”

“The source of our suffering has been our timidity. We have been afraid to think....Let us dare to read, think, speak, write.”

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

“You just hang onto the thought that every dog has its day, even the bitches”

“Charles Sumner; “A Smacking breeze has sprung up, and we shall part this company soon; and then for the Atlantic! Farewell then, my friends, my pursuits, my home, my country! Each bellying wave on its rough crest carries me away. The rocking vessel impedes my pen. And now, as my head begins slightly to reel, my imagination entertains the glorious prospects before me…”