Indeed, bribery, favoritism, and corruption in a great variety of forms were rampant not only in politics, but in all levels of society.

— David McCullough

...it is always easier to deal with things than with men, and no one can direct his life entirely as he would choose. -Wilbur Wright, 1911

— David McCullough

Let the children have their night of fun and laughter. Let the gifts of Father Christmas delight their play. Let us grown-ups share to the full in their unsuited pleasures before we turn again to the stern task and the formidable years that lie before us, resolved that, by our sacrifice and daring, these same children shall not be robbed of their inheritance or denied their right to live in a free and decent world." Winston Churchill Christmas Eve Message, 1941 as printed in "In the Dark Streets Shine.

— David McCullough

Marinate your mind

— David McCullough

Measurements "are never enough. The artist's eye and desire to breathe life into the subject must be the deciding factors.

— David McCullough

Morality only is eternal. All the rest is balloon and bubble from the cradle to the grave.

— David McCullough

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. Furthermore, it's the nadir, the low point of the United States of America.

— David McCullough

No harms done to history by making it something someone would want to

— David McCullough

No harms done to history by making it something someone would want to read.

— David McCullough

No harms done to history by making it something someone would want to read.", NEH Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities 2003)

— David McCullough