Inspiring America: A Collection of Quotes That Ignite Patriotism

"It’s important that we establish that we are a country that has open arms and not closed borders for people. It’s important because we let people know why America is what it is. It’s about an ideal, and that ideal is freedom for everybody."

- Oprah Winfrey

"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

"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. Our whole history appears like a last effort of divine providence on behalf of the human race."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

- Bill Clinton

"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

"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

"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

"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

"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

"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

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

- Nathan Hale

"Where liberty dwells, there is my country."

- Benjamin Franklin

"America. It is the only place where miracles not only happen, but where they happen all the time."

- Thomas Wolfe

"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

"The essence of America—that which really unites us—is not ethnicity, or nationality or religion—it is an idea—and what an idea it is: That you can come from humble circumstances and do great things."

- Condoleezza Rice

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

- John McCain

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

- Barack Obama

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

- Frederick Douglass

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

- Paul Tsongas

"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

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

- Wendell L. Willkie

"America is another name for opportunity."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"May the sun in his course visit no land more free, more happy, more lovely, than this our own country!"

- Sen. Daniel Webster

"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

"Freedom is never given; 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.

"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."

- Thurgood Marshall

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

- John Thune

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

- John F. Kennedy

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

- Barack Obama

"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it."

- Mark Twain

"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

"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

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

- James Bryce

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

- Joe Biden

"My dream is of a place and a time where America will once again be seen as the last best hope of earth."

- Abraham Lincoln

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

- Bono

"Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves."

- Abraham Lincoln

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

- Albert Camus

"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 me, undergo the fatigue 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 forever!"

- Daniel Webster

"America is never wholly herself unless she is engaged in high moral principle. We as a people have such a purpose today. It is to make kinder the face of the nation and gentler the face of the world."

- George H. W. Bush

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

- Marilyn vos Savant

"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

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

- Charles de Gaulle

"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

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

- Gerald Stanley Lee

"I have long believed that sacrifice is the pinnacle of patriotism."

- Bob Riley

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

- Henry James

"The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty."

- James Madison

"The fate of America cannot depend on any one man. The greatness of America is grounded in principles and not on any single personality."

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

"For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others."

- Nelson Mandela

"America without her soldiers would be like God without his angels."

- Claudia Pemberton

"I don’t believe in the Constitution because I’m American. I’m American because I believe in the Constitution."

- J.S.B. Morse

"The land of opportunity. You just need the right people and the right work ethic, and you can accomplish anything."

- Bob Poser

"Change often seems impossible until it is inevitable. Just as we must own our lives, we must own our country. For we, the people, are ultimately in control of America’s story."

- Valerie Jarrett

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

- Oliver Wendell Holmes

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

- Bob Dylan

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

- Malcolm X

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

- Sgt. Maj. Bill Paxton

"Freedom lies in being bold."

- Robert Frost

"It's never paid to bet against America. We come through things, but its not always a smooth ride."

- Warren Buffett

"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

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

- Jesse Ventura

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

- William Faulkner

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

- Aung San Suu Kyi

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

- Adlai Stevenson II

"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

"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

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

- Mark Twain

"Heroism doesn’t always happen in a burst of glory. Sometimes small triumphs and large hearts change the course of history."

- Mary Roach

"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

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

- Ronald Reagan

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

- Christopher Gadsen

"And they who for their country die shall fill an honored grave, for glory lights the soldier’s tomb, and beauty weeps the brave."

- Joseph Rodman Drake

"We're not going to have the America that we want until we elect leaders who are going to tell the truth - not most days, but every day."

- Ann Richards

"The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life."

- Theodore Roosevelt

"The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults."

- Alexis de Tocqueville

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

- Edward Abbey

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

- George Orwell

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

- Charles F. Browne

"Freedom does not come without a price. We may sometimes take for granted the many liberties we enjoy in America, but they have all been earned through the ultimate sacrifice paid by so many of the members of our armed forces."

- Charlie Dent

"There is a Providence that protects idiots, drunkards, children and the United States of America."

- Otto von Bismarck

"A citizen of America will cross the ocean to fight for democracy, but won't cross the street to vote in a national election."

- Bill Vaughan

"My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular."

- Adlai Stevenson

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

- Warren G. Harding

"If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America."

- Nelson Mandela

"America's health care system is neither healthy, caring, nor a system."

- Walter Cronkite

"Laughter is America's most important export."

- Walt Disney

"When you're born you get a ticket to the freak show. When you're born in America, you get a front row seat."

- George Carlin

"God bless America. God save the Queen. God defend New Zealand and thank Christ for Australia."

- Russell Crowe