Bernard De Voto

“An intellectual is a man who takes more words than are necessary to tell more than he knows.”

“A historian is a prophet in reverse.”

“The public lands are a trust. They are to be administered for the benefit of all the people, not for the enrichment of a few.”

“National parks are the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst.”

“The moment a man begins to talk about technique, that's proof that he is fresh out of ideas.”

“The American West is the architect of the American character.”

“History is an argument without end.”

“We have reached a point where the public accepts the fact that the prime necessity is not to be told the truth, but to be told what it wants to hear.”

“The West is the geography of hope.”

“It is the first responsibility of a writer to be interesting.”

“Patriotism is not the last refuge of a scoundrel but the first.”