The 4th of July is the ultimate display of American patriotism. And even though my country is far from perfect, I am a proud American citizen. I am so thankful to have been born on this land and I am eternally grateful for all the opportunities granted to me here. To celebrate, I compiled a collection of quotes that remind me of the American spirit. (All quotes via Quote Garden.)
Happy Birthday America!
“America did not invent human rights. In a very real sense human rights invented America.” Jimmy Carter
“I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him.” Abraham Lincoln
“Sometimes people call me an idealist. Well, that is the way I know I am an American. America is the only idealistic nation in the world.” Woodrow Wilson
“This, then, is the state of the union: free and restless, growing and full of hope. So it was in the beginning. So it shall always be, while God is willing, and we are strong enough to keep the faith.” Lyndon B. Johnson
“America is another name for opportunity. Our whole history appears like a last effort of divine providence on behalf of the human race.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
“This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a good place for all of us to live in.” Theodore Roosevelt
“Each man must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, which course is patriotic and which isn’t. You cannot shirk this and be a man. To decide against your conviction is to be an unqualified and excusable traitor, both to yourself and to your country, let men label you as they may.” Mark Twain
“What we need are critical lovers of America – patriots who express their faith in their country by working to improve it.” Hubert H. Humphrey
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Declaration of Independence
“You cannot spill a drop of American blood without spilling the blood of the whole world….We are not a nation, so much as a world.” Herman Melville
“We dare not forget that we are the heirs of that first revolution.” John F. Kennedy
And finally, one of the greatest protest songs ever: it truly captures the fighting American spirit.
Have a safe and happy Independence Day everyone!
~ Sarah