3 Quotes & Sayings By John R Stilgoe

John R. Stilgoe is curator of the New York Historical Society's exhibition hall, where he is in charge of the society's collection of manuscripts and printed ephemera, an area that includes William Shakespeare's First Folio, Thomas Paine's Common Sense, the unbound Declaration of Independence, and much more. He has written about the history of American writing for New York magazine and other publications, and is the author of two books about America's history in print: The First American Book: The History and Society of Books in Colonial Times, 1721–1820 (2002), which won the Donovan Award for best book on American literature; The Story of Printing in America (2001).

1
The whole concatenation of wild and artificial things, the natural ecosystem as modified by people over the centuries, the build environment layered over layers, the eerie mix of sounds and smells and glimpses neither natural nor crafted- all of it is free for the taking, for the taking in. Take it, take it in, take in more every weekend, every day, and quickly it becomes the theater that intrigues, relaxes, fascinates, seduces, and above all expands any mind focused on it. Outside lies utterly ordinary space open to any casual explorer willing to find the extraordinary. Outside lies unprogrammed awareness that at times becomes directed serendipity. Outside lies magic. John R. Stilgoe
2
I wonder if more students would do better in elementary and high school if teachers taught more about individual exploration of subjects and less about sliding smoothly along observational ruts. Exploration is a liberal art, because it is an art that liberates, that frees, that opens away from narrowness. And it is fun. John R. Stilgoe