top of page
.png){kind=small}
"I'm drawn particularly to stories that evolve out of the character of the protagonist."
Standard
Customized
Exlpore more Character quotes
"The presence of a noble nature, generous in its wishes, ardent in its charity, changes the lights for us: we begin to see things again in their larger, quieter masses, and to believe that we too can be seen and judged in the wholeness of our character."
"Failures make character, not success."
"Words let you know what is in someone's mind, deeds let you know what is in someone's heart, and character lets you know what is in someone's soul."
"Be as humble as Moses, as patient as Job, and as virtuous as Daniel."
Explore more quotes by David McCullough
"I'm very aware how many distractions the reader has in life today, how many good reasons there are to put the book down."
"I can fairly be called an amateur because I do what I do, in the original sense of the word - for love, because I love it. On the other hand, I think that those of us who make our living writing history can also be called true professionals."
"To go back and read Swift and Defoe and Samuel Johnson and Smollett and Pope - all those people we had to read in college English courses - to read them now is to have one of the infinite pleasures in life."
"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."
"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."
"My shorthand answer is that I try to write the kind of book that I would like to read. If I can make it clear and interesting and compelling to me, then I hope maybe it will be for the reader."
"My next book is also set in the eighteenth century. It's about the Revolution, with the focus on the year 1776. It's about Washington and the army and the war. It's the nadir, the low point of the United States of America."
"There's an awful temptation to just keep on researching. There comes a point where you just have to stop, and start writing."
bottom of page