Stephen Ambrose Quotes

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

— Stephen Ambrose

“The Holocaust was the most evil crime ever committed.”

— Stephen Ambrose

“The more sophisticated we get, the more advanced our buildings and vehicles become, the more vulnerable we are.”

— Stephen Ambrose

Eisenhower had the clearest blue eyes. He would fix them on you. In my every interview with him, he would lock his eyes on to mine and keep them there.

— Stephen Ambrose

“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.”

— Stephen Ambrose

“In 1945, there were more people killed, more buildings destroyed, more high explosives set off, more fires burning than before or since.”

— Stephen Ambrose

“It would not be possible to praises nurses too highly.”

— Stephen Ambrose

Johnson had been the most powerful man in the world, yet the North Vietnamese and the Vietcong had resisted, overcome his power, broken his will.

— Stephen Ambrose

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

— Stephen Ambrose

“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.”

— Stephen Ambrose

Even before Watergate and his resignation, Nixon had inspired conflicting and passionate emotions.

— Stephen Ambrose

“In America, Jefferson noted with approval, women knew their place.”

— Stephen Ambrose

“Washington's character was rock solid. He came to stand for the new nation and its republican virtues, which was why he became our first President by unanimous choice.”

— Stephen Ambrose

“The number one secret of being a successful writer is this: marry an English major.”

— Stephen Ambrose

Immigrants do more than help us win our wars, or set up cleaning shops or ethnic restaurants.

— Stephen Ambrose

“Who today is willing to say that Texas and California and the remainder of the Southwest would be better off if they were governed by Mexico?”

— Stephen Ambrose

“American corporations hate to give away money.”

— Stephen Ambrose

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

— Stephen Ambrose

“As to the Indians, the guiding principle was, promise them anything just so long as they get out of the way.”

— Stephen Ambrose

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

— Stephen Ambrose

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

— Stephen Ambrose

“I'm no politician. I'm an historian who has learned through a lifetime of studying that nothing in the world beats universal education.”

— Stephen Ambrose

“My first book was the book that changed my life.”

— Stephen Ambrose

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

— Stephen Ambrose

The great wars of the 20th Century made it into the worst Century ever.

— Stephen Ambrose

“Washington and Jefferson were both rich Virginia planters, but they were never friends.”

— Stephen Ambrose

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

— Stephen Ambrose

Winning the Revolutionary War, or the Civil War, or World War II were the turning points in our history, the sine qua non of our forward progress.

— Stephen Ambrose

“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.”

— Stephen Ambrose

“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.”

— Stephen Ambrose

“History is everything that has ever happened.”

— Stephen Ambrose

“Almost everything Truman did in foreign affairs I approve of.”

— Stephen Ambrose

“American is the first democratic nation-state.”

— Stephen Ambrose

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

— Stephen Ambrose

I was too young for Korea and too old for Vietnam.

— Stephen Ambrose

Jefferson owned slaves. He did not believe that all were created equal. He was a racist.

— Stephen Ambrose

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

— Stephen Ambrose

Nixon regarded himself as having been cheated by life. He never got my vote.

— Stephen Ambrose

“The war in Vietnam I thought a dreadful mistake.”

— Stephen Ambrose

“We are part of a country that outshines those that have gone before us and most of those in existence today.”

— Stephen Ambrose

“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?”

— Stephen Ambrose

“Nothing is inevitable in life. People make choices, and those choices have results, and we all live with the results.”

— Stephen Ambrose

“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.”

— Stephen Ambrose

“Friendships are different from all other relationships. Unlike acquaintanceship, friendship is based on love. Unlike lovers and married couples, it is free of jealousy. Unlike children and parents, it knows neither criticism nor resentment. Friendship has no status in law. Business partnerships are based on a contract. So is marriage. Parents are bound by law. But friendships are freely entered into, freely given, and freely exercised ...”

— Stephen Ambrose

“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.”

— Stephen Ambrose

“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.”

— Stephen Ambrose

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.

— Stephen Ambrose

In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries you have these great nation states hurling their young men at one another. The victory was really going to rest on who could do the best job of bringing up their kids to become efficient and effective soldiers. That's pretty grandiose, I guess, but I do think that, and thank God it's been the armies of democracy that have emerged from this as the triumphant armies.

— Stephen Ambrose

“Oftentimes the fascinating thing is that people who are seen as commanding figures at the moment that they were considered for President and did not run turned out to be treated by history as much more minor figures politically.”

— Stephen Ambrose

“I think that the opportunity to improve race relations in the United States has been put off temporarily.”

— Stephen Ambrose