Fasttrack Civics - Famous Quotes - American Patriotic Patriotic

American Patriotic

    Listen, my children, and you shall hear,
   Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
   On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
   Hardly a man is now alive
   Who remembers that famous day and year.
   Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet, in Paul Revere's Ride, commemorating the famous events of 1775 leading up to the battles at Lexington and Concord, Mass. The poem was composed in 1860.

   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, Speech at the Virginia Convention, 1775.

   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.
   Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence, 1776.

   I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.
   Nathan Hale, American patriot, in his final words before being hanged by the British as a spy, 1776.

   These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.
   Thomas Paine, American patriot and immigrant from England, in The American Crisis, No. 1, December 23, 1776.

   We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
   Preamble of the U.S. Constitution, ratified 1788.

   The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the republican model of government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.
   George Washington, First Inaugural Address, 1789.

   Oh, say, can you see by the dawn's
      early light,
   What so proudly we hailed at the
    twilight's last gleaming?
   Whose broad stripes and bright stars,
      through the perilous fight,
   O'er the ramparts we watched were so
      gallantly streaming?
   And the rockets' red glare, the bombs
      bursting in air,
   Gave proof through the night that our
      flag was still there.
   Oh, say, does that star-spangled banner
      yet wave
   O'er the land of the free and the home
      of the brave?
   Francis Scott Key, The Star-Spangled Banner, composed in 1814 during the British bombardment of Fort McHenry at Baltimore, Maryland, during the War of 1812.

American Patriotic

    Thank God! I - I also - am an American!
   Daniel Webster, American political leader and orator, On the Completion of Bunker Hill Monument, 1843.

Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith let us to the end dare to do our duty as we understand it.
   Abraham Lincoln, Speech at Cooper Union, New York, 1860.

   Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
   Abraham Lincoln, opening lines of the Gettysburg Address, 1863.

   ... 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, last lines of the Gettysburg Address, 1863.

   I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
   Francis Bellamy, The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, 1892. (The phrase "under God" was added by a resolution of Congress, approved by President Eisenhower June 14, 1954.)

    Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.
   Theodore Roosevelt, Speech before the Hamilton Club, Chicago, 1899.

   Remember, remember always that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.
   Franklin Delano Roosevelt, speaking at a Daughters of the American Revolution meeting, 1938.

   What constitutes an American? Not color nor race nor religion. Not the pedigree of his family nor the place of his birth. Not the coincidence of his citizenship. Not his social status nor his bank account. Not his trade nor his profession. An American is one who loves justice and believes in the dignity of man. An American is one who will fight for his freedom and that of his neighbor. An American is one who will sacrifice property, ease, and security in order that he and his children may retain the rights of free men. An American is one in whose heart is engraved the immortal second sentence of the Declaration of Independence.
   Harold L. Ickes, Secretary of the Interior under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in a speech, What Constitutes an American, in 1941.

   We, too, born to freedom, and believing in freedom, are willing to fight to maintain freedom. We, and all others who believe as deeply as we do, would rather die on our feet than live on our knees.
   Franklin Roosevelt, speaking at Oxford University, June 19, 1941.

   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, Inaugural Address, 1961.

   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, Inaugural Address, 1961.