William McGuire “Bill” Bryson, OBE, FRS is a best-selling Anglo-American author of books on travel, the English language, science, and other non-fiction topics. Born in the United States, he (1951–95) was a resident of Britain for most of his adult life before returning to America in 1995. In 2003 Bryson and his wife and four children moved back to Britain, living in the old rectory of Wramplingham, Norfolk. He served as the chancellor of Durham University from 2005 to 2011.
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Isn’t it strange how wealth is always wasted on the rich?
—Bill Bryson
The whole of the global economy is based on supplying the cravings of two per cent of the world’s population.
—Bill Bryson
We used to build civilizations. Now we build shopping malls.
—Bill Bryson
Topics: Shopping, Civilization
There are things you just can’t do in life. You can’t beat the phone company, you can’t make a waiter see you until he’s ready to see you, and you can’t go home again.
—Bill Bryson
Topics: Home
There are only three things that can kill a farmer: lightning, rolling over in a tractor, and old age.
—Bill Bryson
Topics: Farming
Clearly, some time ago makers and consumers of American junk food passed jointly through some kind of sensibility barrier in the endless quest for new taste sensations. Now they are a little like those desperate junkies who have tried every known drug and are finally reduced to mainlining toilet bowl cleanser in an effort to get still higher.
—Bill Bryson
Topics: Eating
And I find chopsticks frankly distressing. Am I alone in thinking it odd that a people ingenious enough to invent paper, gunpowder, kites and any umber of other useful objects, and who have a noble history extending back 3,000 years haven’t yet worked out that a pair of knitting needles is o way to capture food?
—Bill Bryson
Topics: Eating
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