Stephen Ambrose Quotes
-
At the core, the American citizen soldiers knew the difference between right and wrong, and they didn't want to live in a world in which wrong prevailed. So they fought, and won, and we all of us, living and yet to be born, must be forever profoundly grateful.
→ -
Washington, not Jefferson, freed his slaves upon his death.
→ -
I was taught by professors who had done their schooling in the 1930s. Most of them were scornful of, even hated, big business.
→ -
Jefferson owned slaves. He did not believe that all were created equal. He was a racist.
→ -
The Canadians have managed to live peacefully with their Indians. It is disgrace that the United States has not done the same.
→ -
To have some parts flowing free again . . . with deer grazing on its banks . . . ducks and geese raising their young in the backwaters . . . eddies and twists and turns for canoeists . . . and fishing opportunities such as Lewis and Clark enjoyed . . . would be the finest possible tribute to the men of the Expedition, and a priceless gift for our children.
→ -
American corporations hate to give away money.
→ -
We know how to win wars. We must learn now to win peace.
→ -
During the Second World War, the Germans took four years to build the Atlantic Wall. On four beaches it held up the Allies for about an hour; at Omaha it held up the U.S. for less than one day. The Atlantic Wall must therefore be regarded as one of the greatest blunders in military history.
→ -
Nothing is inevitable in life. People make choices, and those choices have results, and we all live with the results.
→ -
In one of his last newsletters, Mike Ranney wrote: "In thinking back on the days of Easy Company, I'm treasuring my remark to a grandson who asked, 'Grandpa, were you a hero in the war?' No,'" I answered, 'but I served in a company of heroes.
→ -
It is through history that we learn who we are and how we got that way, why and how we changed, why the good sometimes prevailed and sometimes did not.
→ -
World War II, the atomic bomb, the Cold War, made it hard for Americans to continue their optimism.
→ -
My favorite book is the last one printed, which is always better than those that were published earlier.
→ -
In the 19th century, we devoted our best minds to exploring nature. In the 20th century, we devoted ourselves to controlling and harnessing it. In the 21st century, we must devote ourselves to restoring it.
→ -
There are many rules of good writing, but the best way to find them is to be a good reader.
→ -
D-Day represents the greatest achievement of the american people and system in the 20th century. It was the pivot point of the 20th century. It was the day on which the decision was made as to who was going to rule in this world in the second half of the 20th century. Is it going to be Nazism, is it going to be communism, or are the democracies going to prevail?
→ -
The Holocaust was the most evil crime ever committed.
→ -
Almost everything Truman did in foreign affairs I approve of.
→ -
Trial by jury. Live wherever you can make a living. How could a government based on such principles fail?
→ -
I thought Nixon was the worst President we had ever had, save only perhaps Andrew Johnson.
→ -
You don't hate history, you hate the way it was taught to you in high school.
→ -
I've always tried to be fair to my subjects. That's easy when they are as likable and admirable as Lewis and Clark, or Eisenhower.
→ -
Nixon regarded himself as having been cheated by life. He never got my vote.
→ -
Eisenhower is my choice as the American of the 20th Century. Of all the men I've studied and written about, he is the brightest and the best.
→ -
Immigrants do more than help us win our wars, or set up cleaning shops or ethnic restaurants.
→ -
Friends never cheat on each other, or take advantage, or lie. Friends do not spy on one another, yet they have no secrets. Friends glory in each other's successes and are downcast by the failures. Friends minister to each other, nurse each other. Friends give to each other, worry about each other, stand always ready to help. Perfect friendship is rarely achieved, but at its height it is an ecstasy.
→ -
We are part of a country that outshines those that have gone before us and most of those in existence today.
→ -
Within Easy Company they had made the best friends they had ever had, or would ever have. They were prepared to die for each other; more important, they were prepared to kill for each other.
→ -
In 1945, there were more people killed, more buildings destroyed, more high explosives set off, more fires burning than before or since.
→
Related Authors
-
Meriwether Lewis Explorer -
Harry S. Truman 33rd U.S. President -
Eugene B. Sledge Author -
Joseph J. Ellis Historian -
Dwight D. Eisenhower 34th U.S. President -
Ken Burns Producer -
Theodore Roosevelt 26th U.S. President -
Steven Spielberg Film director -
David McCullough Author -
Robert Caro Journalist -
-
Damian Lewis Actor -
Douglas Brinkley Author -
Doris Kearns Goodwin Historian -
William Least Heat-Moon Writer -
Ron Chernow Writer -
John Adams 2nd U.S. President -
David Kenyon Webster Journalist -
-
Tom Hanks Actor