David McCullough Quotes

You can't leave the thing that you are, the house that has become your biography.

For Africa to me... is more than a glamorous fact. It is a historical truth. No man can know where he is going unless he knows exactly where he has been and exactly how he arrived at his present place.

Returning to your family and where you came from, and your history... this is what makes you strong. It's not looking out that's going to do that - it's looking in.

I may not know who I am, but I know where I am from.

If people do not know where they have been and what they have been they don't know what they are. They don't know where they going to have to go or where they still have to be.

U don't know where u goin unless u know where u come from.

It is important for all of us to appreciate where we come from and how that history has really shaped us in ways that we might not understand.

I think one's history and past is important at a certain time in your life, especially as an artist, just to try to hone in on that.

The background - your own history - is way more important than what you can achieve as a professional.

Remember who you are and where you come from; otherwise, you don't know where you are going.

The more I separate myself from my upbringing, the more I appreciate what it's done for me.

Everybody's past and history informs them.

It's best to know a little about where you're coming from and why you've arrived where you are.

Getting to know where we come from is a really profound way of getting to look at who we are.

It's better to know your story than not to know.

We can never run away from our past. The past will catch up to us because it is us. It is a part of us; it's what makes us we are. It's what delineates the borders of our societies.

If you don't know your full-throttle history, the whole story of how you came to where you are, it's kind of hard to put things together.

It was important for me to understand who I am and where I came from. To get a hold on why I do certain things.

The most important thing in life is to know where you come from, and I know where I come from.

When I started soul-searching, I tapped into the old me and what I grew up around. I learned a lot about myself, and it really made me appreciate my upbringing.

It is not enough to understand what we ought to be, unless we know what we are; and we do not understand what we are, unless we know what we ought to be.

No matter where I go I know where I came from.

It's important to know where you've come from so that you can know where you're going. I probably chose my profession because I was seeking approval, adulation, admiration and affection.

Success takes the courage to know who you really are and be comfortable with that.

If you don't know where you come from, it's difficult to determine where you are.- It's even more difficult to plan where you are going.