Vandue Quotes & Sayings

What is it about this book - essentially a military history of the first month of the First World War - which gives it its stamp and has created its enormous reputation? Four qualities stand out: a wealth of vivid detail which keeps the reader immersed in events, almost as an eyewitness; a prose style which is transparently clear, intelligent, controlled and witty; a cool detachment of moral judgment - Mrs. Tuchman is never preachy or reproachful; she draws on skepticism, not cynicism, leaving the reader not so much outraged by human villainy as amused and saddened by human folly. These first three qualities are present in all of Barbara Tuchman's work, but in The Guns of August there is a fourth which makes the book, once taken up, almost impossible to set aside. Remarkably, she persuades the reader to suspend any foreknowledge of what is about to happen. — Barbara W. Tuchman

If you don't learn your lessons, you become one for everyone else — Dana Robinson

[Preparing for award shows] gets insane. The dress, the hair, the makeup ... I end up always picking the dress at the last second. — Julie Bowen

Sweet smells are sometimes used to cover foul ones. — George R R Martin

Some memories are unforgettable, remaining ever vivid and heartwarming! — Joseph B. Wirthlin