Great Throughts Treasury

This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.

Stephen Ambrose, born Stephen Edward Ambrose

American Historian and Biographer

"A critical fact in the world of 1801 was that nothing moved faster than the speed of a horse. No human being, no manufactured item, no bushel of wheat, no side of beef (or any beef on the hoof, for that matter), no letter, no information, no idea, order, or instruction of any kind moved faster."

"All that existed was precious in Crazy Horse?s religion?whatever a man did or thought was good, was wakan, so long as he obeyed his own inner voice, for that too was wakan."

"Arthur Moore describes the results: Whole forests of oak, beech, poplar, maple, and walnut, standing since Columbus, collapsed ? from girdling and deadening with fire. There was in the heart of the new race no more consideration for the trees than for the game until the best of both were gone; steel conquered the West but chilled the soul of the conqueror. This assault on nature, than which few more frightful spectacles could be imagined, owed much to sheer need, but something also to a compelling desire to destroy conspicuous specimens of the fauna and flora of the wilderness. The origin of this mad destructiveness may be in doubt, but there is no question about its effect. The Ohio Valley today has neither trees nor animals to recall adequately the splendor of the garden of the Indian which the white man found and used so profligately."

"American corporations hate to give away money."

"Almost everything Truman did in foreign affairs I approve of."

"American is the first democratic nation-state."

"Andrew Johnson was a Southerner generally who proclaimed that his native state of Tennessee was a country for white men."

"Although both men were full of resolve, the defender could not keep his doubts out of his mind, while the attacker refused to entertain any doubts. (Rommel vs. Eisenhower)"

"As Lewis saw it. The White Cliffs can be seen only from small boat or canoe. Put in at Fort Benton and take out three or four days later at Judith Landing. Missouri River Outfitters at Fort Benton, Montana, rents canoes or provides a guided tour by pontoon boat. Of all the historic and/or scenic sights we have visited in the world, this is number one. We have made the trip ten times."

"As a people, we have wrestled with Vietnam's legacy for many years, as was and is our duty. Now we want to remind ourselves of what we have done right. Our involvement in World War II was us doing right."

"As I have always held it a crime to anticipate evils I will believe it a good comfortable road until I am compelled to believe differently."

"At dusk, Wakefield had my most important thought that day. Wading into chest-deep water at first light that morning, I found that my legs would hardly hold me up. I thought I was a coward. Then he had discovered that his sea bags with their explosives had filled with water and he was carrying well over 100 pounds. He had used his knife to cut the bags and dump the water, then moved on to do his job. When I had thought for a moment that I wasn?t going to be able to do it, that I was a coward, and then found out that I could do it, you can?t imagine how great a feeling that was. Just finding out, yes, I could do what I had volunteered to do."

"Burial practices illustrated the two men?s different outlooks. Custer believed a body should be buried in a long-lasting metal casket, thus removing the body from the ecological system by preventing bacteria from breaking it down and feeding it back into the soil. Crazy Horse believed in wrapping a body inside a buffalo robe and placing it on a scaffold on an open hillside, where the elements could break it down in a year or two. It would then come up again as buffalo grass, to be eaten by the buffalo, which would then be eaten by the Sioux, completing the circle."

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

"By this time, around 0745, unknown others were doing the same, whether NCOs or junior officers or, in some cases, privates. Staying on the beach meant certain death; retreat was not possible; someone had to lead; men took the burden on themselves and did. Bingham put it this way: The individual and small-unit initiative carried the day. Very little, if any, credit can be accorded company, battalion, or regimental commanders for their tactical prowess and/or their coordination of the action."

"Chickenshit is so called - instead of horse- or bull- or elephant shit - because it is small-minded and ignoble and takes the trivial seriously."

"British and Free French in the Mediterranean were fighting to retain their colonial empires. Roosevelt said he hoped to"

"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."

"At the hangars, each jumpmaster was given two packs of papers, containing an order of the day from Eisenhower and a message from Colonel Sink, to pass around to the men. Tonight is the night of nights, said Sink?s."

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

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

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

"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?"

"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."

"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."

"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."

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

"History is everything that has ever happened."

"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 the law. But friendships are freely entered into, freely given, freely exercised."

"I am an unabashed triumphalist. I believe this is the best and greatest country that ever was."

"I instinctively dislike ever to uphold the conservative as opposed to the bold"

"I had no idea that history was about flesh-and-blood people. I was wowed by the way [the professor] drew you into the story. He hadn't said ten sentences when I had decided what I wanted to do with my life. I went up to him after the lecture, and I said, 'How do I do what you do for a living?' And he laughed and said, 'Stick around. We'll show you.'"

"I read about a number of generals and colonels who are said to have wandered about exhorting the troops to advance. That must have been very inspirational! I suspect, however, that the men were more interested and more impressed by junior officers and NCOs who were willing to lead them rather than having some general pointing out the direction in which they should go."

"I was taught by professors who had done their schooling in the 1930s. Most of them were scornful of, even hated, big business."

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

"I was ten years old when the war ended. I thought the returning veterans were giants who had saved the world from barbarism. I still think so. I remain a hero-worshiper."

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

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

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

"In 1993 we invited the smartest people we knew to join us for a Missouri River trip, a July Fourth commute at Lemma and a horseback crossing on the Lolo Trail. I was getting ready to write Undaunted Courage and wanted to know what questions popped into bright people's minds after a day on the trail and a reading of the journals around the campfire."

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

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

"In each case I am telling a story ? I think of myself as sitting around the campfire after a day on the trail, telling stories that I hope will have the members of the audience, or the readers, leaning forward just a bit, wanting to know what happens next."

"In October 1805, Stoddard?s tour left St. Louis, including forty-five Indians from eleven tribes. They arrived in Washington in January 1806. Jefferson gave them the standard Great Father talk: We are become as numerous as the leaves of the trees, and, tho? we do not boast, we do not fear any nation. . . My children, we are strong, we are numerous as the stars in the heavens, & we are all gun-men. He followed the threat with the carrot: if they would be at peace with one another and trade with the Americans, they could be happy. (In reply, one of the chiefs said he was glad the Americans were as numerous as the stars in the skies, and powerful as well. So much the better, in fact, for that meant the government should be strong enough to keep white squatters off Indian lands.)"

"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."

"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."

"In the morning, fog. As it slowly lifted, the expedition set off."

"It all happened, Lipton summed up, because Shifty saw a tree almost a mile away that hadn't been there the day before."

"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."

"It does you no good to see the number two or number three man in the corporation-you have to get through to number one."