United States

Explore 2893 quotes by people from United States

What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham.

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Topic

Independence Day

Speaker

Frederick Douglass

Source

What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1852 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Douglass, Frederick. "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" Independence Day Celebration. 5 July 1852, Corinthian Hall, Rochester, NY, USA.

Current Citation

Douglass, Frederick. "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" Frederick Douglass: Speeches & Writings, edited by David W. Blight. Library of America, 2022.

A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved—I do not expect the house to fall—but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other.

Abraham Lincoln

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Read the full text of this speech at umich.edu

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Topic

Political division Slavery American Civil War

Speaker

Abraham Lincoln

Source

A House Divided

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1858 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "A House Divided." 16 Jun. 1858, Springfield, IL, USA.

Current Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "'House Divided' Speech at Springfield, Illinois, June 16, 1858." Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1832-1858, edited by Don E. Fehrenbacher. Library of America, 1989.

The American continents... Are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers.

James Monroe

1823 State of the Union

More information about this quote

Topic

America and Europe Western hemisphere Monroe doctrine American politics

Author

James Monroe

Source

1823 State of the Union Presidential State of the Union addresses

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1823 1820s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Monroe, James. Message to Congress about The Monroe Doctrine. Seventh annual message to Congress. 2 Dec. 1823, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

I know why the caged bird sings!

Paul Laurence Dunbar

More information about this quote

Topic

Captivity Freedom

Author

Paul Laurence Dunbar

Source

Sympathy Lyrics of the Hearthside

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1899 1890s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Dunbar, Paul Lawrence. "Sympathy." Lyrics of the Hearthside. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1899, st. 3.

Current Citation

Dunbar, Paul Lawrence. "Sympathy." Paul Lawrence Dunbar: Selected Poems. Dover Publications, 1997, st. 3.

Of those men who have overturned the liberties of republics, the greatest number have begun their career by paying an obsequious court to the people; commencing demagogues, and ending tyrants.

Alexander Hamilton

Federalist 1

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Read Federalist No. 1 at the Library of Congress website

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Topic

Populism Demagoguery Tyranny Decline of democracy Politics

Author

Alexander Hamilton

Source

Federalist 1 The Federalist Papers

Medium

Essay

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1787 1780s 18th century

Era

American Revolutionary Period

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Hamilton, Alexander [published as Publius]. "Federalist No. 1: General Introduction." Independent Journal, 27 Oct. 1787.

Current Citation

Hamilton, Alexander. "No. I: Deliberation on a new constitution--Hamilton." The Federalist: A Commentary on the Constitution of the United States, edited by Robert Scigliano. The Modern Library, 2001.

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 of John F. Kennedy

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Read this speech at UVA's Miller Center website

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Topic

American resolve American politics

Speaker

John F. Kennedy

Source

Inaugural Address of John F. Kennedy Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1961 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Kennedy, John F. "Inaugural Address." 20 Jan. 1961, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

Liberty is to faction what air is to fire, an aliment without which it instantly expires. But it could not be less folly to abolish liberty, which is essential to political life, because it nourishes faction, than it would be to wish the annihilation of air, which is essential to animal life, because it imparts to fire its destructive agency.

James Madison

Federalist 10

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Read Federalist No. 10 at the Library of Congress website

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Topic

Political faction Political conflict Political theory Politics

Author

James Madison

Source

Federalist 10 The Federalist Papers

Medium

Essay

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1787 1780s 18th century

Era

American Revolutionary Period

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Madison, James [published as Publius]. "Federalist No. 10: The Same Subject Continued: The Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection." Daily Advertiser, 22 Nov. 1787.

Current Citation

Madison, James. "No. 10: An extensive republic a remedy for mischiefs of faction.--Madison." The Federalist: A Commentary on the Constitution of the United States, edited by Robert Scigliano. The Modern Library, 2001.

No, I make no pretension to patriotism. So long as my voice can be heard on this or the other side of the Atlantic, I will hold up America to the lightning scorn of moral indignation. In doing this, I shall feel myself discharging the duty of a true patriot; for he is a lover of his country who rebukes and does not excuse its sins.

Frederick Douglass

More information about this quote

Topic

Patriotism

Speaker

Frederick Douglass

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1847 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Douglass, Frederick. "Love of God, Love of Man, Love of Country." 24 Sept. 1847, Syracuse, NY, USA.

Current Citation

Douglass, Frederick. "If I Had a Country, I Should Be a Patriot." American Heritage Book of Great American Speeches for Young People, edited by Suzanne McIntire. John Wiley & Sons, 2002.

The man who is right is a majority. He who has God and conscience on his side, has a majority against the universe. Though he does not represent the present state, he represents the future state. If he does not represent what we are, he represents what we ought to be.

Frederick Douglass

More information about this quote

Topic

Political progress

Speaker

Frederick Douglass

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1852 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Douglass, Frederick. "The Fugitive Slave Law." National Free Soil Convention. 11 Aug. 1852, Pittsburg, PA, USA.

Current Citation

Douglass, Frederick. "The Fugitive Slave Law." The Essential Douglass: Selected Writings and Speeches. Hackett Publishing Company, 2016.

There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe, and there never will be under a Ford administration.

Gerald Ford

More information about this quote

Topic

Cold War Soviet Union American politics

Author

Gerald Ford

Source

Presidential debates

Medium

Political debate

Statement Type

Political gaffe

Language

English

Time

1976 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 0

Citation

Ford, Gerald. Debate with Jimmy Carter. The Second Carter-Ford Presidential Debate. 6 Oct. 1976, Palace of the Fine Arts Theater, San Francisco, CA, USA.

It's the economy, stupid.

James Carville

More information about this quote

Topic

Political strategy Political campaigns American politics

Author

James Carville

Language

English

Time

1992 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Carville, James. Political campaign slogan. 1992.

Current Citation

The War Room. Directed by Chris Hegedus and D. A. Pennebaker. Pennebaker Associates, 1993.

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore -
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over -
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?

Langston Hughes

Harlem

Read Harlem at Poetry Foundation

More information about this quote

Topic

Broken dreams Dreams

Author

Langston Hughes

Source

Harlem

Medium

Poem

Statement Type

Question

Language

English

Time

1951 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Hughes, Langston. "Harlem." Montage of a Dream Deferred. Holt, 1951.

First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.

Henry Lee III

Read the Funeral Oration on the Death of General Washington at quod.lib.umich.edu

More information about this quote

Topic

George Washington

Author

Henry Lee III

Source

Funeral Oration on the death of General Washington

Medium

Speech

Genre

Funeral oration

Statement Type

Eulogy

Language

English

Time

1799 1790s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Lee, Henry. Funeral oration on the death of General Washington. 26 Dec. 1799, German Lutheran Church, Philadelphia, PA, USA.

It seems now more certain than ever that the bloody experience of Vietnam is to end in a stalemate.

Walter Cronkite

More information about this quote

Topic

Vietnam War American politics Media

Speaker

Walter Cronkite

Medium

TV program

Language

English

Time

1968 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Cronkite, Walter. "We are Mired in Stalemate." CBS Evening News, created by Don Hewitt, CBS News Productions, 27 Feb. 1968.

Come out of your warm, angular house, resounding with few voices, into the chill, grand, instantaneous night, with such a Presence as a full moon in the clouds.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

More information about this quote

Topic

Experiencing nature Man and nature Civilization and nature

Author

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Source

Journals of Ralph Waldo Emerson

Medium

Personal journal

Language

English

Time

1838 1830s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Journal entry. 11 May 1838.

The words we use are the worlds we live in.

Richard Ford

More information about this quote

Topic

Power of words Language

Speaker

Richard Ford

Source

Rumpus

Medium

Interview

Language

English

Time

2014 2010s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Ford, Richard. "The Rumpus Interview with Richard Ford." Interviewed by Ben Pfeiffer. Rumpus, Nov. 26, 2014, therumpus.net/2014/11/the-rumpus-interview-with-richard-ford/

And the wind shall say:
"Here were decent godless people:
Their only monument the asphalt road
And a thousand lost golf balls."

T.S. Eliot

More information about this quote

Topic

Disenchanted world Modern life

Speaker

Second Male Voice

Author

T.S. Eliot

Source

The Rock

Medium

Play

Language

English

Time

1934 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Eliot, T. S. The Rock. 1934, Sadler's Wells Theatre, London, England, UK, pt. 1.

Remember the Alamo!

Sidney Sherman

More information about this quote

Topic

Texas

Speaker

Sidney Sherman

Statement Type

Orders and commands

Language

English

Time

1836 1830s 19th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Sherman, Sidney. Battle cry at San Jacinto. 21 Apr. 1836, San Jacinto, TX, USA.

When the lambs is lost in the mountain, he said. They is cry. Sometime come the mother. Sometime the wolf.

Cormac McCarthy

Blood Meridian; or The Evening Redness in the West

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Topic

Predator and prey Dangerous world

Author

Cormac McCarthy

Source

Blood Meridian; or The Evening Redness in the West

Medium

Novel

Genre

Western literature

Language

English

Time

1985 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

McCarthy, Cormac. Blood Meridian; or The Evening Redness in the West. Random House, 1985, ch. 5.

Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.

Marthe Troly-Curtin

Phrynette Married

More information about this quote

Topic

Leisure Killing time Time

Author

Marthe Troly-Curtin

Source

Phrynette Married

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1912 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Troly-Curtin, Marthe. Phrynette Married. The Macmillan Company of Canada, 1912.