2. Yesterday the greatest
question was decided, which
ever was debated in
America…A resolution was
passed without one
dissenting colony. That these
colonies are, and of right
ought to be, Free and
Independent states.
***
John Adams
3. Put none but Americans
on guard tonight.
***
George Washington
1776
4. And so, my fellow
Americans: Ask not what
your country can do for
you—ask what you can do
for your country.
***
John F. Kennedy
5. Everyone has the power of
greatness—not for fame
but greatness, because
greatness is determined by
service.
***
Martin Luther King Jr.
6. Some people give time, some
money, some their skills and
connections, some literally
give their blood. But
everyone has something to
give.
***
Barbara Bush
7. We are of course a nation
of differences. Those
differences don’t make us
weak. They are the source
of our strength.
***
Jimmy Carter
8. We have enjoyed so much
freedom for so long that we
are perhaps in danger of
forgetting how much blood
it cost to establish the Bill
of Rights.
***
Felix Frankfurter
9. Democracy is never a final
achievement. It is a call to
untiring effort, to continual
sacrifice and to the
willingness, if necessary, to
die in its defense.
***
John F. Kennedy
10. …this will remain the
home of the free only as
long as it remains the
home of the brave.
***
Elmer Davis
11. The eyes of the world are
upon you. The hopes and
prayers of liberty-loving
people everywhere march
with you.
***
Dwight D. Eisenhower
to his troops on D-Day,
June 6, 1944
12. In every generation, the
world has produced enemies
of human freedom. They have
attacked America because we
are freedom’s home and
defender, and the
commitment of our Fathers is
now the calling of our time.
***
George W. Bush (post 9/11)
13. The nations of the world…
have seen our young soldiers
in action. They have seen
their courage and their
strength. Off the battlefield
they have seen and admired
the human kindness of the
men who went overseas for
us and them.
14. When you go home, tell
them of us and say, “For
their tomorrow, we gave
our today.”
***
Inscription at the WWI
cemetery at Kohima,
India
15. Fathers. Sisters. Brothers.
Friends. Loved Ones. These
are Americans who, in the
eloquent words delivered at
Gettysburg by Abraham
Lincoln, “gave their last full
measure of devotion.
***
Jan Scruggs
16. We’re going to rush the
hijackers.
***
Jeremy Glick
United Airlines Flight 93
final words to his wife
17. When Americans put their
heads on their pillows at
night, I wonder if they
realize what a beacon of
hope they are for oppressed
people everywhere.
***
Ann Richards
