Quote #58

I can tell you that tonight in Des Moines, Iowa, my home town, people all across the city will be putting a hand to their ears and saying 'What is that sound?', and it will be the sound of Mr De Vito, my High School Careers Officer, spinning in his grave.

More from Bill Bryson

  1. Nearly a quarter of American men were in the Armed forces [in 1968]. The rest were in school, in prison, or were George W. Bush.
  2. I was asked what I would like to be said of me in a hundred years from now. I replied '...and he's still sexually active!'
  3. It would be lovely to think I had become a genius,' he smiles, 'but the fact is that I've forgotten most of it. Occasionally I can be watch…
  4. I have always wanted to know why, wherever archaeologists dig, do they always find red and white poles?
  5. They [the American authorities] can't actually believe that anyone would want to not be an American,' he says. 'It's not enough to send the…
  6. One of my duties, this week, is to open the new Ustinov college,' he confesses, 'and while I'm delighted that Durham should honour its form…
  7. ...Our guide announces that he's going to take us to the coldest place on Earth, where particles are cooled to within a fraction of a Kelvi…
  8. Absolute brain size does not tell you everything - or possibly sometimes even much. Elephants and whales both have brains larger than ours,…

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