Not often in the story of mankind does a man arrive on earth who is both steel and velvet, who is as hard as rock and soft as drifting fog, who holds in his heart and mind the paradox of terrible storm and peace unspeakable and perfect.
—Carl Sandburg (1878–1967) American Biographer, Novelist, Socialist
He that will make a good use of any part of his life must allow a large part of it to recreation.
—John Locke (1632–1704) English Philosopher, Physician
It was wonderful to find America, but it would have been more wonderful to miss it.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
I hate this shallow Americanism which hopes to get rich by credit, to get knowledge by raps on midnight tables, to learn the economy of the mind by phrenology, or skill without study, or mastery without apprenticeship.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
America does not concern itself now with Impressionism. We own no involved philosophy. The psyche of the land is to be found in its movement. It is to be felt as a dramatic force of energy and vitality. We move; we do not stand still. We have not yet arrived at the stock-taking stage.
—Martha Graham (1894–1991) American Choreographer
I have been up to see the (Confederate) Congress, and they do not seem to be able to do anything except to eat peanuts and chew tobacco, while my army is starving.
—Robert E. Lee (1807–70) Confederate General during American Civil War
We are a puny and fickle folk. Avarice, hesitation, and following are our diseases.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Americans are a backward people, with all the very real virtues of a backward people; the patriarchal simplicity and human dignity of a democracy, and a respect for labor uncorrupted by cynicism.
—G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) English Journalist, Novelist, Essayist, Poet
There is nothing wrong with America that the faith, love of freedom, intelligence and energy of her citizens cannot cure.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) American Head of State, Military Leader
America is the only nation in history which miraculously has gone directly from barbarism to degeneration without the usual interval of civilization.
—Georges Clemenceau (1841–1929) French Statesman, Physician, Journalist
God grants liberty only to those who love it and are always ready to guard and defend it. Let our object be our country. And, by the blessing of God, may that country itself become a vast and splendid monument, not of oppression and terror, but of wisdom, of peace, and of liberty, upon which the world may gaze with admiration forever.
—Daniel Webster (1782–1852) American Statesman, Lawyer
The historic glory of America lies in the fact that it is the one nation that was founded like a church. That is, it was founded on a faith that was not merely summed up after it had existed; it was defined before it existed.
—G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) English Journalist, Novelist, Essayist, Poet
America is neither free nor brave, but a land of tight, iron-clanking little wills, everybody trying to put it over everybody else, and a land of men absolutely devoid of the real courage of trust, trust in life’s sacred spontaneity. They can’t trust life until they can control it.
—D. H. Lawrence (1885–1930) English Novelist, Playwright, Poet, Essayist, Critic
It is veneer, rouge, aestheticism, art museums, new theaters, etc. that make America impotent. The good things are football, kindness, and jazz bands.
—George Santayana (1863–1952) Spanish-American Poet, Philosopher
If some period be not fixed, either by the Constitution or by practice, to the services of the First Magistrate, his office, though nominally elective, will, in fact, be for life, and that will soon degenerate into an inheritance.
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
America, thou half-brother of the world; with something good and bad of every land.
—Philip James Bailey (1816–1902) English Poet
Every U.S. citizen owes allegiance to our nation. Some Americans consider that anything less than high treason is allegiance.
—Cullen Hightower (b.1923) American Humorist
The United States is the richest, and, both actually and potentially, the most powerful state on the globe. She has much to give to the world; indeed, to her hands is chiefly entrusted the shaping of the future. If democracy in the broadest and truest sense is to survive, it will be mainly because of her guardianship.
—John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir (1875–1940) Scottish Novelist, Politician, Diplomat
America is a mistake, a giant mistake.
—Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) Austrian Psychiatrist, Psychoanalytic
America is rather like life. You can usually find in it what you look for. It will probably be interesting, and it is sure to be large.
—E. M. Forster (1879–1970) English Novelist, Short Story Writer, Essayist
Being American is to eat a lot of beef steak, and boy, we’ve got a lot more beef steak than any other country, and that’s why you ought to be glad you’re an American. And people have started looking at these big hunks of bloody meat on their plates, you know, and wondering what on earth they think they’re doing.
—Kurt Vonnegut (1922–2007) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
Young man, there is America, which at this day serves for little more than to amuse you with stories of savage men and uncouth manners.
—Edmund Burke (1729–97) British Philosopher, Statesman
I’d like to see America but I’m afraid to risk it. As soon as I got over Mr. Frohman might request me to sit in a box at the performance of one of my plays.
—Arthur Wing Pinero (1855–1934) English Playwright, Actor
Americans see history as a straight line and themselves standing at the cutting edge of it as representatives for all mankind. They believe in the future as if it were a religion; they believe that there is nothing they cannot accomplish, that solutions wait somewhere for all problems, like brides.
—Unknown
It’s difficult to believe that people are still starving in this country because food isn’t available.
—Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) American Head of State
I feel most at home in the United States, not because it is intrinsically a more interesting country, but because no one really belongs there any more than I do. We are all there together in its wholly excellent vacuum.
—Wyndham Lewis (1882–1957) English Novelist, Painter, Critic
Let our object be our country, our whole country, and nothing but our country. And, by the blessing of God, may that country itself become a vast and splendid monument, not of oppression and terror, but of wisdom, of peace, and of liberty, upon which the world may gaze with admiration forever.
—Daniel Webster (1782–1852) American Statesman, Lawyer
The business of America is business and the chief ideal of the American people is idealism.
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933) American Head of State, Lawyer
In every American there is an air of incorrigible innocence, which seems to conceal a diabolical cunning.
—A. E. Housman (1859–1936) English Poet, Classical Scholar
I sometimes think we ought to bring a bill before Congress changing our national symbol from the eagle to the buffalo, because we are more like the buffalo than the eagle. The eagle is a powerful bird. It flies alone. It rises up into the sky with authority. It is master of all it surveys. The eagle is an individualist and was selected from among the rest of the birds to be our symbol. But the buffalo was never alone. It always ran in a herd with other buffaloes. And, friends, I call your attention that the buffaloes are gone from the open range, but the eagles are still soaring.
—Norman Vincent Peale (1898–1993) American Clergyman, Self-Help Author
Leave a Reply