The Johnstown flood was not an act of God or nature. It was brought by human failure, human shortsightedness and selfishness.

The pull, the attraction of history, is in our human nature. What makes us tick? Why do we do what we do? How much is luck the deciding factor?

[It could be argued that the Johnstown flood of 1889 wasn't a natural disaster at all, but the inevitable consequence of humans thinking they could control nature. Whatever the cause, the day after a dam burst, unleashing 20 million tons of water on the residents of Johnstown, Pa., and its neighboring boroughs, the area looked like] a vast sea of muck and rubble and filthy water, ... The Johnstown Flood.

I have to tell you, of all of Washington's strengths, his greatest strength was that he would not quit,

They might not look like soldiers, they might not know much about drill, and soldier's life . . . and etiquette, and restrictions of rank . . . . ... but they knew how to get things done.

Man is the most insane species. He worships an invisible God and destroys a visible Nature. Unaware that this Nature he’s destroying is this God he’s worshiping.