Profoundly inspirational patriotic quotes will challenge the way you think, and help guide you through any life experience.
Famous Patriotic Quotes
Labor disgraces no man; unfortunately, you occasionally find men who disgrace labor. — Ulysses S. Grant
Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost. — John Quincy Adams
Men may die, but the fabrics of free institutions remains unshaken. — Chester A. Arthur
The best government rests on the people, and not on the few, on persons and not on property, on the free development of public opinion and not on authority. — George Bancroft
Sir, I wish to understand the true principles of the Government. I wish them carried out. I ask nothing more. — Benjamin Harrison
To believe that patriotism will not flourish if patriotic ceremonies are voluntary… is to make an unflattering estimate of the appeal of our institutions to free minds. — Robert Jackson
Where the people possess no authority, their rights obtain no respect. — George Bancroft
No matter that patriotism is too often the refuge of scoundrels. Dissent, rebellion, and all-around hell-raising remain the true duty of patriots. — Barbara Ehrenreich
Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime. — Adlai E. Stevenson
Into the soul of every student I would have instilled the patriotic fervor of Patrick Henry. — David O. McKay
Confidence… thrives on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection and on unselfish performance. Without them it cannot live. — Franklin D. Roosevelt
I have never advocated war except as a means of peace. — Ulysses S. Grant
Frequently the more trifling the subject, the more animated and protracted the discussion. — Franklin Pierce
Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you’re a man, you take it. — Malcolm X
A real patriot is the fellow who gets a parking ticket and rejoices that the system works. — Bill Vaughan
No American can read the story of the part America took in the war without experiencing a glow of patriotic feeling. Every Allied nation can say the same thing. — Kelly Miller
I’ve always considered myself to be fiercely patriotic. I love Britain – its history and the down-to-earth attitude people have. — Gary Numan
Preparation for war is a constant stimulus to suspicion and ill will. — James Monroe
Patriotism is a kind of religion; it is the egg from which wars are hatched. — Guy de Maupassant
It is a high patriotic duty that we support and sustain the men who have been placed in position of difficulty, burden, responsibility, and even danger as the result of our suffrages. — Bainbridge Colby
Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. — Frederick Douglass
A truly American sentiment recognizes the dignity of labor and the fact that honor lies in honest toil. — Grover Cleveland
The ballot box is the surest arbiter of disputes among free men. — James Buchanan
Everyone loathes his own country and countrymen if he is any sort of artist. — Lawrence Durrell
Even now, we make no apologies for the choice we made. The sacrifices we made were selfless. The options we offered were patriotic while the paths we chose were well thought out. — Ibrahim Babangida
I think that, in almost all human beings, there is buried a profound tribal instinct that makes us very susceptible to being aroused to patriotic fervour. — Adam Hochschild
For this generation, ours, life is nuclear survival, liberty is human rights, the pursuit of happiness is a planet whose resources are devoted to the physical and spiritual nourishment of its inhabitants. — Jimmy Carter
I never joined the army for patriotic reasons. — Isaac Rosenberg
It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority. — Benjamin Franklin
When people endure a traumatic event, they are either defeated or made stronger. On Sept. 11, I told New Yorkers, ‘I want you to emerge stronger from this.’ My words were partially a hope and partially an observation that people in New York City handle big things better than little things. I could not be more proud of the way my city responded. — Rudy Giuliani
The passion for office among members of Congress is very great, if not absolutely disreputable, and greatly embarrasses the operations of the Government. They create offices by their own votes and then seek to fill them themselves. — James K. Polk
When morality comes up against profit, it is seldom that profit loses. — Shirley Chisholm
Every diminution of the public burdens arising from taxation gives to individual enterprise increased power and furnishes to all the members of our happy confederacy new motives for patriotic affection and support. — Andrew Jackson
No president who performs his duties faithfully and conscientiously can have any leisure. — James K. Polk
The last thing I would do to this country is to even put my personal interests about the country’s interest. I have never done that in my life, and I will never do it because I, you know, I was brought up as a very patriotic Egyptian, and this is not just going to happen. — Wael Ghonim
It’s a damn poor mind that can only think of one way to spell a word. — Andrew Johnson
We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home. — Edward R. Murrow
Territory is but the body of a nation. The people who inhabit its hills and valleys are its soul, its spirit, its life. — James A. Garfield
I was born an American; I will live an American; I shall die an American. — Daniel Webster
The best form of government is that which is most likely to prevent the greatest sum of evil. — James Monroe
There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people. — Howard Zinn
I think it’s unfair to criticise someone for not being Welsh, but the smaller the nation, the more patriotic you seem to be. — Gary Speed
The average American is nothing if not patriotic. — Herbert Croly
I’ve looked on many women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times. God knows I will do this and forgives me. — Jimmy Carter
A Republic without parties is a complete anomaly. The histories of all popular governments show absurd is the idea of their attempting to exist without parties. — Franklin Pierce
I can get on with all different sorts of people, and I never feel homesick, particularly, or I’ve never felt kind of patriotic towards any one country. — Andy Serkis
If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under. — Ronald Reagan
I had a lot of experience with people smarter than I am. — Gerald R. Ford
Unless our conception of patriotism is progressive, it cannot hope to embody the real affection and the real interest of the nation. — Jane Addams
Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe. — Frederick Douglass
It is not uncommon in modern times to see governments straining every nerve to keep the peace, and the people whom they represent, with patriotic enthusiasm and resentment over real or fancied wrongs, urging them forward to war. — Elihu Root
The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it. — Albert Einstein
It’s no exaggeration to say that the undecideds could go one way or another. — George H. W. Bush
Our Constitution was not written in the sands to be washed away by each wave of new judges blown in by each successive political wind. — Hugo Black
War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. — John Stuart Mill
In every battle there comes a time when both sides consider themselves beaten, then he who continues the attack wins. — Ulysses S. Grant
Anyone who knows anything about me knows that I am a very patriotic guy, in terms of my Scottishness and my roots. — Robert Carlyle
A pure democracy is a society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the government in person. — James Madison
American cinema tends to express a patriotic relationship to national identity on a regular basis. — Tom Hooper
Americans are very patriotic and they want someone to support. In order to entice more fans, and to allow F1 to compete with Nascar and IndyCar, there needs to be an American driver. — Alexander Rossi
One cool judgment is worth a thousand hasty counsels. The thing to do is to supply light and not heat. — Woodrow Wilson
I tread in the footsteps of illustrious men… in receiving from the people the sacred trust confided to my illustrious predecessor. — Martin Van Buren
A politician will do anything to keep his job – even become a patriot. — William Randolph Hearst
If you want total security, go to prison. There you’re fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking… is freedom. — Dwight D. Eisenhower
As soon as laws are necessary for men, they are no longer fit for freedom. — Pythagoras
It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their own selfish purposes. — Andrew Jackson
As Asian-Americans, the charge that is often lobbed against us is sort of the least original: the idea that somehow we’re perpetual foreigners, that we can’t be trusted, and that even my father, who was patriotic to the point that it was kind of a joke among his children, would be accused of being disloyal to America. — David Henry Hwang
Hispanic values are conservative values. Hispanics are highly religious, they’re very strongly pro-traditional family… not only pro-family, but also pro-life. They are highly patriotic. — Rafael Cruz
It is not patriotic to commit young Americans to war unless our national security clearly requires it. — George McGovern
Intellectually I know that America is no better than any other country; emotionally I know she is better than every other country. — Sinclair Lewis
Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first. — Charles de Gaulle
Every immigrant who comes here should be required within five years to learn English or leave the country. — Theodore Roosevelt
The citizen who criticizes his country is paying it an implied tribute. — J. William Fulbright
Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word, equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude. — Alexis de Tocqueville
Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country. — Franklin D. Roosevelt
I’m lucky to have been raised in the most beautiful place – Amherst, Massachusetts, state of my heart. I’m more patriotic to Massachusetts than to almost any place. — Uma Thurman
I just bought a Jeep painted like an American flag. No one better question how patriotic I am. — Blake Anderson
The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries. — Winston Churchill
I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your President by your ballots, so I ask you to confirm me with your prayers. — Gerald R. Ford
America lives in the heart of every man everywhere who wishes to find a region where he will be free to work out his destiny as he chooses. — Woodrow Wilson
With the Union my best and dearest earthly hopes are entwined. — Franklin Pierce
There is a certain enthusiasm in liberty, that makes human nature rise above itself, in acts of bravery and heroism. — Alexander Hamilton
There is no force so democratic as the force of an ideal. — Calvin Coolidge
Peace, plenty, and contentment reign throughout our borders, and our beloved country presents a sublime moral spectacle to the world. — James K. Polk
Somebody said that part of my reaction to British cinema is actually, paradoxically, a patriotic one. I’m so disappointed that we’re not better. — Kevin Brownlow
From being a patriotic myth, the Russian people have become an awful reality. — Leon Trotsky
I may be president of the United States, but my private life is nobody’s damned business. — Chester A. Arthur
At midnight on July 1, 1997, Hongkong, the British Crown Colony, will be restored to China. This is not only an event which will be celebrated by patriotic Chinese; any patriotic American should celebrate it as well. — Robert Trout
I love Canadians. They are the coolest, nicest, most patriotic people, and they will support their countrymen no matter what, and I think that’s commendable. — Ronda Rousey
Patriotism. Combustible rubbish ready to the torch of any one ambitious to illuminate his name. — Ambrose Bierce
I think on-stage nudity is disgusting, shameful and damaging to all things American. But if I were 22 with a great body, it would be artistic, tasteful, patriotic and a progressive religious experience. — Shelley Winters
It is not easy to see how the more extreme forms of nationalism can long survive when men have seen the Earth in its true perspective as a single small globe against the stars. — Arthur C. Clarke
Patriotism is often an arbitrary veneration of real estate above principles. — George Jean Nathan
In some ways, it’s better that Obama got elected than McCain. I’d rather be stabbed in the chest with an Obama steak knife than to have been slowly bled to death with McCain paper cuts. Say what you will, but Obama has brought about a patriotic and civic renaissance, the likes of which I have never seen. — Brad Thor
Yes, I’m a patriotic person. For these people who disgrace the American way and burn our flag and do all of these things… I say, don’t live here and disgrace my country. Go live in the Middle East and see how you like it. — Payne Stewart
I can never consent to being dictated to. — John Tyler
You were only truly patriotic if you had a laborer for a grandfather and were glad of it. — Rebecca H. Davis
Men in authority will always think that criticism of their policies is dangerous. They will always equate their policies with patriotism, and find criticism subversive. — Henry Steele Commager
Our country is not the only thing to which we owe our allegiance. It is also owed to justice and to humanity. — James Bryce
The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference, and undernourishment. — Robert M. Hutchins
