Stephen Ambrose Quotes
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History is everything that has ever happened.
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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.
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Andrew Johnson was a Southerner generally who proclaimed that his native state of Tennessee was a country for white men.
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Dams have harmed our wildlife and made rivers less useful for recreation.
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The war in Vietnam I thought a dreadful mistake.
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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.
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As to the Indians, the guiding principle was, promise them anything just so long as they get out of the way.
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Neighbors are far better acoustic analyzers for determining the quality of their life versus any acoustic instrument left unattended by an expert.
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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.
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World War II, the atomic bomb, the Cold War, made it hard for Americans to continue their optimism.
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The great wars of the 20th Century made it into the worst Century ever.
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Writing is not the easiest way to make a living. Your work long hours, usually all by yourself. It is not a way to make money.
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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.
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I think it's just that the private lives of our public leaders are so much more exposed today that if you're sensitive to protecting your family, it's much harder to not get defensive when somebody asks you those really rude questions about what your wife and your children are thinking and feeling at that exact moment.
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You don't hate history, you hate the way it was taught to you in high school.
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Reading your own material aloud forces you to listen.
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Jefferson owned slaves. He did not believe that all were created equal. He was a racist.
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The number one secret of being a successful writer is this: marry an English major.
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I was taught by professors who had done their schooling in the 1930s. Most of them were scornful of, even hated, big business.
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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.
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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.
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Trial by jury. Live wherever you can make a living. How could a government based on such principles fail?
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In America, Jefferson noted with approval, women knew their place.
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American corporations hate to give away money.