Americans

Explore 16 quotes about Americans

Americans traditionally love to fight. All real Americans love the sting of battle.

Patton

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Topic

American character Americans War World War II

Speaker

General George S. Patton

Actor

George C. Scott

Source

Patton

Medium

Film

Genre

Biography (film) War (film) Biography War

Language

English

Time

1969 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Patton. Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner. 20th Century Fox, 1969.

The chief business of the American people is business.

Calvin Coolidge

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Topic

American character Americans Business

Speaker

Calvin Coolidge

Source

The Press Under a Free Government (Speech)

Medium

Speech

Language

English

Time

1925 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Coolidge, Calvin. "The Press Under a Free Government." American Society of Newspaper Editors meeting. 17 Jan. 1925, Washington, DC, USA.

A tough but nervous, tenacious but restless race; materially ambitious, yet prone to introspection, and subject to waves of religious emotion... A race whose typical member is eternally torn between a passion for righteousness and a desire to get on in the world.

Samuel Eliot Morison

On Americans, specifically "Yankees".

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Topic

American character Americans

Author

Samuel Eliot Morison

Source

Maritime History of Massachusetts

Genre

Historical literature

Language

English

Time

1921 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Morison, Samuel Eliot. The Maritime History of Massachusetts 1783-1860. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1921, ch. 2.

They have all a lively faith in the perfectibility of man, they judge that the diffusion of knowledge must necessarily be advantageous, and the consequences of ignorance fatal; they all consider society as a body in a state of improvement, humanity as a changing scene, in which nothing is, or ought to be, permanent; and they admit that what appears to them today to be good, may be superseded by something better tomorrow.

Alexis de Tocqueville

Democracy in America

On Americans.

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Topic

American character Americans

Author

Alexis de Tocqueville

Source

Democracy in America

Genre

Political literature

Language

French

Time

1835 1830s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Tocqueville, Alexis De. De La Democratie en Amerique [Democracy in America]. Vol. 1, London: Saunders and Otley, 1835, ch. 18, pt. 6.

Current Citation

Tocqueville, Alexis De. Democracy in America: The Complete and Unabridged Volumes I and II, translated by Henry Reeve. Bantam Classics, 2000, vol. 1, ch. 18, pt. 6.

The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer.

D.H. Lawrence

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Topic

American character Americans

Author

D.H. Lawrence

Source

Studies in Classic American Literature

Language

English

Time

1923 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Lawrence, D.H. Studies in Classic American Literature. Thomas Seltzer, 1923, ch. 5.

If you ask me to name the proudest distinction of Americans, I would choose—because it contains all the others—the fact that they were the people who created the phrase 'to make money.' No other language or nation had ever used these words before... Americans were the first to understand that wealth has to be created.

Ayn Rand

Atlas Shrugged

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Topic

American character Americans

Speaker

Francisco d'Anconia

Author

Ayn Rand

Source

Atlas Shrugged

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1957 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Rand, Ayn. Atlas Shrugged. Random House, 1957, pt. 2, ch. 2.

Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans—born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage.

John F. Kennedy

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Topic

Americans American politics

Speaker

John F. Kennedy

Source

Inaugural Address of John F. Kennedy

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.

The pundits like to slice and dice our country into red states and blue states: red states for Republicans, blue States for Democrats. But I've got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the blue states, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the red states. We coach little league in the blue sates and, yes, we've got some gay friends in the red states. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq, and there are patriots who supported the war in Iraq. 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

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Topic

American unity Americans

Speaker

Barack Obama

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

2004 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Obama, Barack. Keynote address in Boston. Democratic National Convention. 24 July 2004, FleetCenter, Boston, MA, USA.

What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public, alight?

Tommy Boy

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Topic

Americans The masses

Speaker

Zalinsky

Actor

Dan Aykroyd

Source

Tommy Boy

Medium

Film

Genre

Comedy (film) Comedy

Language

English

Time

1995 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Tommy Boy. Directed by Peter Segal, Paramount Pictures, 1995.

What then is the American, this new man? He is either a European, or the descendant of a European, hence that strange mixture of blood, which you will find in no other country... Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whose labors and posterity will one day cause great changes in the world.

J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur

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Topic

Americans America and Europe

Author

J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur

Source

Letters from an American Farmer

Medium

Letter

Language

English

Time

1782 1780s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Crevecoeur, Michel Guillaume Jean [published as J. Hector St. John]. "What Is an American?" Letters from an American Farmer. London: Davies & Davies, 1782.

Current Citation

Crevecoeur, J. Hector St. John. "Letters From an American Farmer." Letters From an American Farmer and Sketches of Eighteenth-Century America, edited by Albert E. Stone. Penguin Classics, 1981.

I am willing to love all mankind, except an American.

Samuel Johnson

Quoted in The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D, by James Boswell

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Topic

Americans

Speaker

Samuel Johnson

Author

James Boswell

Source

The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D

Genre

Biography

Language

English

Time

1778 1770s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Johnson, Samuel. Quoted in journal entry, written by James Boswell. 15 Apr. 1778.

Current Citation

Johnson, Samuel. Quoted in The Life of Samuel Johnson, written by James Boswell, edited by David Womersley. Penguin Classics, 2008.

None of you Americans smoke anymore. You all live long, dull, and uninteresting lives.

Black Hawk Down

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Topic

Americans Smoking

Speaker

Firimbi

Actor

Treva Etienne

Source

Black Hawk Down

Medium

Film

Genre

War (film) War

Language

English

Time

2001 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Black Hawk Down. Directed by Ridley Scott, Scott Free Productions/Revolution Studios/Columbia Pictures/Jerry Bruckheimer Films, 2001.

You Americans, you're all the same. Always overdressing for the wrong occasions.

Raiders of the Lost Ark

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Topic

Americans

Speaker

Toht

Actor

Ronald Lacey

Source

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Medium

Film

Genre

Action (film) Adventure (film) Action Adventure

Language

English

Time

1981 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Raiders of the Lost Ark. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Lucasfilm Ltd., 1981.

The negroes are now Americans. Their ancestors came here years ago against their will, and this is their only country and their only flag. They have shown themselves anxious to live for it and to die for it.

William Howard Taft

Inaugural Address of William Howard Taft

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Topic

Black Americans Americans

Speaker

William Howard Taft

Source

Inaugural Address of William Howard Taft Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1909 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Taft, William Howard. "Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1909, Senate Chamber, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

The American people have encountered together great dangers and sustained severe trials with success. They constitute one great family with a common interest.

James Monroe

First Inaugural Address of James Monroe

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Topic

Americans

Speaker

James Monroe

Source

First Inaugural Address of James Monroe Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1817 1810s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Monroe, James. "First Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1817, Front steps, Old Brick Capitol, Washington, DC, USA.

Are all American officers so ill-mannered?

The Great Escape

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Topic

American character Americans World War II

Speaker

Von Luger 'The Kommandant'

Actor

Hannes Messemer

Source

The Great Escape

Medium

Film

Genre

War (film) Adventure (film) War Adventure

Statement Type

Question

Language

English

Time

1963 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

The Great Escape. Directed by John Sturges, The Mirisch Company, 1963.