Quotes from Stephen Ambrose

My favorite book is the last one printed, which is always better than those that were published earlier.

Reading your own material aloud forces you to listen.

Almost everything Truman did in foreign affairs I approve of.

Dams have harmed our wildlife and made rivers less useful for recreation.

Neither Johnson nor his party nor the government as a whole were willing to raise, train, equip, and then send Vietnam sufficient manpower to do the job.

The American Constitution is the greatest governing document, and at some 7,000 words, just about the shortest.

Like their predecessors, the Presidents of today just throw up their hands.

You don't hate history, you hate the way it was taught to you in high school.

All men ultimately want to know two things—'To whom do I owe thanks that I should live in such opportunity?' And, 'Will I have the courage when the time comes?

you can manufacture weapons, and you can purchase ammunition, but you can't buy valor and you can't pull heroes off an assembly line.

Those things that are precious are saved only by sacrifice.

War creates many strange juxtapositions, perhaps none stranger than this: men who are doing their utmost to kill other men can transform in a split second into lifesavers. Soldiers who encounter a wounded man (often an enemy) become tender, caring angels of mercy. The urge to kill and the urge to save sometimes run together simultaneously.

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.

To be a slaveholder meant one had to regard the African American as inferior in every way.

The Holocaust was the most evil crime ever committed.

Custer had dead heroes. Crazy Horse had only live ones.

World War II, the atomic bomb, the Cold War, made it hard for Americans to continue their optimism.

I thought Nixon was the worst President we had ever had, save only perhaps Andrew Johnson.

There are many more want-to-be writers out there than good editors.

Washington, not Jefferson, freed his slaves upon his death.

World War II, the atomic bomb, the Cold War, made it hard for Americans to continue their optimism.

You don't hate history, you hate the way it was taught to you in high school.

Crazy Horse saw history as integrated in the present, incorporated into daily life.

The past is a source of knowledge, and the future is a source of hope. Love of the past implies faith in the future.