Quotes from Sarah Vowell

I'm a big fan of editing and keeping only the interesting bits in.

I get younger people who watch Conan or The Daily Show, but before that it was mostly people who knew me from public radio. Those people are kind of old.

I discovered that Robert Todd Lincoln was there for each of the first three assassinations. I wanted to write about the Lincoln Memorial, so when I found out he had attended its dedication, that helped focus it further.

One night last summer, all the killers in my head assembled on a stage in Massachusetts to sing show tunes.

Jesus and Lincoln, Moses and Jefferson can seem so long gone, so unbelievable, so dead.

The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Civil War - when I really think about them, they all seem about as likely as the parting of the Red Sea.

I seem to have no problem revealing my crush on the man who murdered Lincoln.

The one time I was an actor, it happened to be in a globally dominant juggernaut. That was lucky.

Like Lincoln, I would like to believe the ballot is stronger than the bullet. Then again, he said that before he got shot.

Being a nerd, which is to say going too far and caring too much about a subject, is the best way to make friends I know.

Most people don't like to talk about violent historical death.

Behind every bad law, a deep fear.

I probably am a cranky writer, but I am actually a fairly nice, normal person. Since I'm a grouchy writer, of course I have friends whose books are doing way better than mine.