Jesus and Lincoln, Moses and Jefferson can seem so long gone, so unbelievable, so dead.
Sarah VowellHistory is full of really good stories. That's the main reason I got into this racket: I want to make the argument that history is interesting.
Sarah VowellBeing a nerd, which is to say going too far and caring too much about a subject, is the best way to make friends I know. For me, the spark that turns an acquaintance into a friend has usually been kindled by some shared enthusiasm . . . At fifteen, I couldn't say two words about the weather or how I was doing, but I could come up with a paragraph or two about the album Charlie Parker with Strings. In high school, I made the first real friends I ever had because one of them came up to me at lunch and started talking about the Cure.
Sarah VowellI spent a lot of time with some native Hawaiians who protest being part of the United States and literally carry protest signs saying "We are not Americans." And they have no real warmth for being the 50th state.
Sarah Vowell