American Quotes

I think what I learned in research is that as Americans, we're very distrustful of anger. We're not sure if we should repress it. The idea that anger is supposed to be controlled is American, and we try to keep it out of our homes.

~ Koren Zailckas

I share the anger, but, ultimately, to govern this country, it takes more than anger. It takes experience. It takes positions that reflect the best values of the American people.

~ Joe Lieberman

The American people are smart. They've gotten sick of the predictable hyperpartisan talking points and canned anger.

~ John Avlon

We cannot erase what has been done. We can apologize for it. We can express our outrage. We can say to the American people and to the people of the world, this is not our way and we do not condone it, but we cannot change it and we cannot erase it.

~ Ben Nelson

Guns are part of the American psyche, aren't they? This is collateral damage for having a Wild West mentality. It's intrinsic to the American psyche. It's never going to change.

~ Nick Cave

I don't think anything changes until ideas change. The usual American viewpoint is to believe that something is wrong with the person.

~ James Hillman

Because all of us believe and understand in the fabric of the common bond of why we call ourselves American is to care for the men and women who wear the uniform; and when they take off the uniform, we care for them when they are veterans.

~ Steve Buyer

The American People will come first once again. My plan will begin with safety at home - which means safe neighborhoods, secure borders, and protection from terrorism. There can be no prosperity without law and order.

~ Donald Trump

Most of American life consists of driving somewhere and then returning home, wondering why the hell you went.

~ John Updike

Our nation was built by pioneers - pioneers who accepted untold risks in pursuit of freedom, not by pioneers seeking offshore profits at the expense of American workers here at home.

~ Ted Strickland

I'd like to state that Spike Lee is not saying that African American culture is just for black people alone to enjoy and cherish. Culture is for everybody.

~ Spike Lee

The VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston Strangler is to the woman alone.

~ Jack Valenti

I have American in-laws, and I care about the environment. We don't use disposable diapers, which, of course, creates an environmental problem of our own.

~ Yakov Smirnoff

A majority of American citizens are now becoming skeptical of the claim that our carbon footprints, resulting from our use of fossil fuels, are going to lead to climatic calamities. But governments are not yet listening to the citizens.

~ John Coleman

Earth Day 1970 was irrefutable evidence that the American people understood the environmental threat and wanted action to resolve it.

~ Barry Commoner

This Bush administration has a growing credibility gap, maybe even a credibility chasm, on environmental policy. The President has lost the trust of the American people when it comes to the environment.

~ Jim Jeffords

The scars and stains of racism are still deeply embedded in the American society.

~ John Lewis

The most distinguished hallmark of the American society is and always has been change.

~ Eric Sevareid

The surface of American society is covered with a layer of democratic paint, but from time to time one can see the old aristocratic colours breaking through.

~ Alexis De Tocqueville

So far as the economic condition of society and the general mode of living and thinking were concerned, I might claim to have lived in the time of the American Revolution.

~ Simon Newcomb

The American automobile has changed the habits of every member of modern society.

~ Raymond Loewy

I think that diversity is key for the next American entrepreneurs. They want to be a part of this society where there is so much diversity they have to have people from all the experiences.

~ Russell Simmons

The Republican Party is doubling down on this trickle-down theory that says, 'Thou shalt concentrate wealth at the very top of our society. Thou shalt remove regulation from wherever you find it, even on Wall Street. And thou shalt keep wages low for American workers so that we can be more competitive.'

~ Martin O'malley

The very moment you understand that being a Muslim and being American or European are not mutually exclusive, you enrich your society. Promote the universal principles of justice and freedom, and leave the societies elsewhere to find their model of democracy based on their collective psychology and cultural heritage.

~ Tariq Ramadan

Russians clearly perceive America's global influence as being in irreversible decline and American society shattered by major political, economic and ideological crises.

~ Ivan Krastev

I think the most important idea is to remember that there have been times throughout American history where what is right is not the same as what is legal.

~ Edward Snowden

The history of American democracy, to say the least, has been checkered. Our nation was founded at a time when people of African descent were held in bondage. After slavery was abolished, they were forced to endure legal discrimination for another 100 years.

~ Bernie Sanders

You cannot grant amnesty. If the American people see us granting amnesty they will never again believe in legal immigration. They will never again support it, and that's wrong for our country, bad for our future.

~ Marco Rubio

I believe we can, and must, strike a balance between our shared American values of religious liberty and freedom from discrimination. My concerns lie with the possible consequences of politically-driven legislation which claims to promote religious liberty but instead rolls back the legal protections held by LGBT Americans.

~ Gary Johnson

Every lethal terrorist attack in the United States since 9/11 has been carried out by an American citizen or a legal permanent resident, not by recent immigrants or by refugees. So tamping down immigration won't fix the real issue, which is 'homegrown' terrorism.

~ Peter L. Bergen

Nearly every study shows that competition from cheap foreign labor undercuts the wages of American workers and legal immigrants.

~ Lamar S. Smith

As a legal matter, my mother is an American citizen by birth.

~ Ted Cruz

Originally, Congress provided in 1793 that all foreign coins circulating in the United States be legal tender. Indeed, foreign coins have been estimated to form 80 percent of American domestic specie circulation in 1800.

~ Murray Rothbard

In America, to be ID'd - sorted, tagged, and permanently filed - is to lose a bit of one's soul. To die a little. This sounds like a subtle, poetic notion. It's not. In American legal and cultural tradition, one essential privilege of citizenship is not having to prove it on demand.

~ Walter Kirn

It is indefensible that IRS Commissioner Koskinen has not been held accountable for failing to meet his legal obligations. This is exactly what the American people are tired of when they say that our government is on the wrong track.

~ Bill Flores

I think there's no problem getting through the House a pathway to legal status. A pathway to citizenship is going to be tougher, but I think it is potentially doable, if we can show the American people that the border is secure.

~ Blake Farenthold

There is international criminal organizations penetrating our southern based borders, and we need to do something about it. Secure the border, enforce the law, no amnesty, and go forward with the legal immigration system that gives priority to American working families and wages.

~ Scott Walker

I do believe that people hire immigrants, legal and illegal immigrants, to do certain jobs that maybe possibly could go to American citizens, and that's unfortunate. If they're here legally, I think it's OK. If they're here illegally, then they ought not be taking jobs from American citizens.

~ Jan Brewer

The American legal industry is a medieval guild in which the prosecutors, bar, and bench join hands to ensure that legal invoices are paid, no matter how excessive.

~ Conrad Black

The legal principle placing the burden of proof on accusers rather than the accused can be traced back to Second and Third Century Roman jurist, Julius Paulus Prudentissimus. Yet, this ancient concept, which forms the legal and moral cornerstone of the American judicial system, is quickly being undermined in the name of 'national security.'

~ Bob Barr