Inspirational Quotes About America: A Powerful Collection to Ignite Patriotism

"Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country."

- John F. Kennedy

"I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."

- Nathan Hale

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free."

- Ronald Reagan

"This nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

- Abraham Lincoln

"And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country."

- John F. Kennedy

"True patriotism springs from a belief in the dignity of the individual, freedom and equality not only for Americans but for all people on earth."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"

- Patrick Henry

"In the face of impossible odds, people who love this country can change it."

- Barack Obama

"In the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope."

- Barack Obama

"Where liberty is, there is my country."

- Benjamin Franklin

"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty."

- John F. Kennedy

"This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave."

- Elmer Davis

"America is another name for opportunity."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Freedom lies in being bold."

- Robert Frost

"The fact is, with every friendship you make, and every bond of trust you establish, you are shaping the image of America projected to the rest of the world."

- Michelle Obama

"America is hope. It is compassion. It is excellence. It is valor."

- Paul Tsongas

"There is one thing that the American people always rise to and extend their hand to, and that is the truth of justice and of liberty and of peace."

- Woodrow Wilson

"Americans never quit. We never surrender. We never hide from history. We make history."

- John McCain

"We are a nation of many nationalities, many races, many religions-bound together by a single unity, the unity of freedom and equality."

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

"There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America."

- Bill Clinton

"I believe in America because we have great dreams, and because we have the opportunity to make those dreams come true."

- Wendell Willkie

"America – it is a fabulous country, the only fabulous country; it is the only place where miracles not only happen, but where they happen all the time."

- Thomas Wolfe

"America is known as a country that welcomes people to its shores. All kinds of people."

- Ruth Bader Ginsburg

"In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved."

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

"This is your democracy. Make it. Protect it. Pass it on."

- Thurgood Marshall

"The life of the nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful and virtuous."

- Frederick Douglass

"We are called the nation of inventors. And we are. We could still claim that title and wear its loftiest honors if we had stopped with the first thing we ever invented, which was human liberty."

- Mark Twain

"America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand."

- Harry Truman

"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty."

- President John F. Kennedy

"The way to secure liberty is to place it in the people’s hands, that is, to give them the power at all times to defend it in the legislature and in the courts of justice."

- John Adams

"I am an American; free born and free bred, where I acknowledge no man as my superior, except for his own worth, or as my inferior, except for his own demerit."

- Theodore Roosevelt

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

- Benjamin Franklin

"We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America."

- Barack Obama

"Posterity: you will never know how much it has cost the present generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it."

- John Quincy Adams

"There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured with what is right in America."

- William J. Clinton

"We are a country where people of all backgrounds, all nations of origin, all languages, all religions, all races, can make a home. America was built by immigrants."

- Hillary Clinton

"I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually."

- James Baldwin

"One flag, one land, one heart, one hand, One Nation evermore!"

- Oliver Wendell Holmes

"No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation."

- General Douglas MacArthur

"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it."

- Thomas Paine

"May we think of freedom, not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right."

- Peter Marshall

"Independence now and Independence forever!"

- Daniel Webster

"Freedom is never granted; it is won."

- A. Philip Randolph

"Freedom is the open window through which pours the sunlight of the human spirit and human dignity."

- Herbert Hoover

"I say to you that our goal is freedom, and I believe we are going to get there because however much she strays away from it, the goal of America is freedom."

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"This [nation] will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave."

- Elmer Davis

"If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear."

- George Orwell

"You can’t separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom."

- Malcolm X

"We’re blessed with the opportunity to stand for something—for liberty and freedom and fairness. And these are things worth fighting for, worth devoting our lives to."

- Ronald Reagan

"This is your democracy—make it—protect it—pass it on. You are ready. Go to it."

- Thurgood Marshall

"Our American flag is more than cloth and ink. It is a universally recognized symbol that stands for liberty and freedom. It is the history of our nation, marked by the blood of those who died defending it."

- John Thune

"We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it."

- William Faulkner

"What I can do for my country, I am willing to do."

- Christopher Gadsen

"National pride is to countries what self-respect is to individuals: a necessary condition for self-improvement."

- Richard Rorty

"A man’s country is not a certain area of land, of mountains, rivers and woods, but it is a principle, and patriotism is loyalty to that principle."

- George William Curtis

"Patriotism is like charity—it begins at home."

- Henry James

"Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists."

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

"And on the subject of burning books: I want to congratulate librarians, not famous for their physical strength or their powerful political connections or their great wealth, who, all over this country, have staunchly resisted anti-democratic bullies who have tried to remove certain books from their shelves, and have refused to reveal to thought police the names of persons who have checked out those titles. So the America I loved still exists, if not in the White House or the Supreme Court or the Senate or the House of Representatives or the media. The America I love still exists at the front desks of our public libraries."

- Kurt Vonnegut

"America is not just a country, it’s an idea."

- Bono

"A man's country is not a certain area of land, of mountains, rivers, and woods, but it is a principle and patriotism is loyalty to that principle."

- George William Curtis

"Patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime."

- Adlai Stevenson

"Freedom and democracy are dreams you never give up."

- Aung San Suu Kyi

"What the people want is very simple - they want an America as good as its promise."

- Barbara Jordan

"There is much more to being a patriot and a citizen than reciting the pledge or raising a flag."

- Jesse Ventura

"Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men. It is the spirit of men who follow and of the man who leads that gains the victory."

- George S. Patton

"America, to me, is freedom."

- Willie Nelson

"Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better."

- Albert Camus

"Loyalty to country ALWAYS. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it."

- Mark Twain

"If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin."

- Samuel Adams

"Duty, honor, country. Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be."

- Gen. Douglas MacArthur

"The Constitution of the United States was made not merely for the generation that then existed, but for posterity – unlimited, undefined, endless, perpetual posterity."

- Henry Clay

"Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first."

- Charles de Gaulle

"We can’t all be Washingtons, but we can all be patriots."

- Charles F. Browne

"What is the essence of America? Finding and maintaining that perfect, delicate balance between freedom ‘to’ and freedom ‘from’."

- Marilyn vos Savant

"There’s nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America."

- Bill Clinton

"Patriotism consists not in waving the flag, but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong."

- James Bryce

"Let's keep fighting for the America we believe in, an America free of injustice. An America that we know we can be unburdened by what has been."

- Kamala Harris

"America is the land of the second chance - and when the gates of the prison open, the path ahead should lead to a better life."

- George W. Bush

"The school is the last expenditure upon which America should be willing to economize."

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

"The organizers and perpetuators of segregation are as much the enemy of America as any foreign invader."

- Bayard Rustin

"Dreams are the foundation of America."

- Lupita Nyong'o

"America is not just a country, it's an idea, and real Americans are getting busy."

- Bono

"America was indebted to immigration for her settlement and prosperity. That part of America which had encouraged them most had advanced most rapidly in population, agriculture and the arts."

- James Madison

"Patriotism is easy to understand in America. It means looking out for yourself by looking out for your country."

- Calvin Coolidge

"America is a country of inventors, and the greatest of inventors are the newspaper men."

- Alexander Graham Bell

"We will make America strong again. We will make America proud again. We will make America safe again. And we will make America great again."

- Donald Trump

"We are America, second to none, and we own the finish line. Don't forget it."

- Joe Biden

"May we never forget our fallen comrades. Freedom isn't free."

- Sgt. Major Bill Paxton

"I think patriotism is like charity – it begins at home."

- Henry James

"I think of a hero as someone who understands the degree of responsibility that comes with his freedom."

- Bob Dylan

"One flag, one land, one heart, one hand, one nation forevermore!"

- Oliver Wendell Holmes

"All great change in America begins at the dinner table."

- Ronald Reagan

"A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government."

- Edward Abbey

"America's present need is not heroics but healing; not nostrums but normalcy; not revolution but restoration."

- Warren G. Harding

"It's better to fight for something in life than to die for nothing."

- Gen. George S. Patton

"The legacy of heroes—the memory of a great name, and the inheritance of a great example."

- Benjamin Disraeli

"America is a tune. It must be sung together."

- Gerald Stanley Lee

"America is the wealthiest nation on Earth, but its people are mainly poor, and poor Americans are urged to hate themselves."

- Kurt Vonnegut

"America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between."

- Oscar Wilde

"I think patriotism is like charity—it begins at home."

- Henry James

"Celebrate our country's history with these quotes from famous Americans."