“He [the American] is friendly, self-confident, optimistic—and without envy.”
— Albert Einstein Primary source“I therefore consider that in view of the Constitution and the laws, the Union is unbroken; and to the extent of my ability I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly enjoins upon me, that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in all the States.”
— Abraham Lincoln Primary source“The American lives even more for his goals, for the future, than the European. Life for him is always becoming, never being.”
— Albert Einstein Primary source“The cost of freedom is always high—and Americans have always paid it.”
— John F. Kennedy Primary source“Perhaps if the American people more fully comprehended the terrible pressures which discourage acts of political courage, which drive a Senator to abandon or subdue his conscience, then they might be less critical of those who take the easier road—and more appreciative of those still able to follow the path of courage.”
— John F. Kennedy Primary source“You can get far in North America with laconic grunts. ‘Huh,’ ‘hun’ and ‘hi!’ in their various modulations, together with ‘sure,’ ‘guess so,’ ‘that so?’ and ‘nuts!’ will meet almost any contingency.”
— Ian Fleming Primary source“No American will think it wrong of me if I proclaim that to have the United States at our side was to me the greatest joy. I could not foretell the course of events. I do not pretend to have measured accurately the martial might of Japan, but now at this very moment I knew the United States was in the war, up to the neck and in to the death. So we had won after all! […] Hitler’s fate was sealed. Mussolini’s fate was sealed. As for the Japanese, they would be ground to powder.”
— Winston Churchill Primary source“Silly people—and there were many, not only in enemy countries—might discount the force of the United States. Some said they were soft, others that they would never be united. They would fool around at a distance. They would never come to grips. They would never stand blood-letting. Their democracy and system of recurrent elections would paralyze their war effort. They would be just a vague blur on the horizon to friend or foe. Now we should see the weakness of this numerous but remote, wealthy, and talkative people. But I had studied the American Civil War, fought out to the last desperate inch.”
— Winston Churchill Primary source“I hold, that in contemplation of universal law, and of the Constitution, the Union of these States is perpetual. Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental law of all national governments.”
— Abraham Lincoln Primary sourceAmerican Civil War Politics World War II Pearl Harbor Courage