#National Identity Quotes

“We go to Europe to be Americanized.”

“The Chinese said of themselves several thousand years ago: China is a sea that salts all the waters that flow into it. Theres another Chinese saying about their country which is much more modernit dates only from the fourth century. This is the saying: The tail of China is large and will not be wagged. I like that one. The British democracy approves the principles of movable party heads and unwaggable national tails. It is due to the working of these important forces that I have the honour to be addressing you at this moment.”

“A love for tradition has never weakened a nation, indeed it has strengthened nations in their hour of peril.”

“We see nothing but good and hope in a richer, freer, more contented European commonalty. But we have our own dreams and our own task. We are with Europe, but not of it. We are linked, but not comprised. We are interested and associated, but not absorbed.”

“The flag of the United States has not been created by rhetorical sentences in declarations of independence and in bills of rights. It has been created by the experience of a great people, and nothing is written upon it that has not been written by their life. It is the embodiment, not of a sentiment, but of a history.”

“If America ever passes out as a great nation, we ought to put on our tombstone: America died from a delusion she had Moral Leadership.”

“We are no petty people. We are one of the great stocks of Burke; we are the people of Swift, the people of Emmet, the people of Parnell. We have created most of the modern literature of this country. We have created the best of its political intelligence.”

“America is a land of opportunity and don't ever forget it.”

“You see I am an enthusiast on the subject of the arts. But it is an enthusiasm of which I am not ashamed, as its object is to improve the taste of my countrymen, to increase their reputation, to reconcile to them the respect of the world, and procure them its praise.”

“I see great things in baseball. It's our game - the American game.”

“Americanism means the virtues of courage, honor, justice, truth, sincerity, and hardihood - the virtues that made America.”

“A nation without borders is no nation at all.”

“Americans are hungering to feel proud and patriotic again.”

“Don't limit your challenges - challenge your limits.Don't spread patriotism too thin.”

“Germany, the diseased world's bathhouse.”

“The quality of the thought differences the Egyptian and the Roman, the Austrian and the American.”

“A seashell should be the crest of England, not only because it represents a power built on the waves, but also the hard finish ofthe men. The Englishman is finished like a cowry or a murex.”

“We Americans... bear the ark of liberties of the world.”

“The English have a miraculous power of turning wine into water.”

“The spinning wheel means national consciousness and a contribution by every individual to a definite constructive national work.”

“I do regard spinning and weaving as a necessary part of any national system of education.”

“There are two merits that glorify a person: being courageous for a man and being virtuous for a woman. Besides these two, there is another merit that glorifies both man and woman: so much loving the homeland to an extent with being ready to sacrifice his/her life, if needed. Turks are such courageous and virtuous people. That is why you can kill a Turk but you can never defeat them.”

“Let the Negro march. Let him make pilgrimages to city hall. Let him go on freedom rides. And above all, make an effort to understand why he must do this. For if his frustration and despair are allowed to continue piling up, millions of Negroes will seek solace and security in black-nationalist ideologies. And this, inevitably, would lead to a frightening racial nightmare.”

“The Charkha is intended to realize the essential and living oneness of interest among India's myriads.”

“India has the right, if she only knew, of becoming the predominant partner by reason of her numbers, geographical position and culture inherited for ages.”

“It has been said that a Scotchman has not seen the world until he has seen Edinburgh; and I think that I may say that an American has not seen the United States until he has seen Mardi Gras in New Orleans.”

“When the wheel was accepted as part of the national flag, it was surely implied that the spinning wheel would hum in every household.”

“I came to office with one deliberate intent: to change Britain from a dependent to a self-reliant society - from a give-it-to-me, to a do-it-yourself nation. A get-up-and-go, instead of a sit-back-and-wait-for-it Britain.”

“A man may climb Everest for himself, but at the summit he plants his country's flag.”

“Unless we change our ways and our direction, our greatness as a nation will soon be a footnote in the history books, a distant memory of an offshore island, lost in the mist of time like Camelot, remembered kindly for its noble past.”

“However virile the English language may be, it can never become the language of the masses of India.”

“The moment Germany rises as a great power, France gains a new importance as a cultural power.”

“People are really rather afraid that this country might be rather swamped by people with a different culture.”

“It is sometimes said that because of our past we, as a people, expect too much and set our sights too high. That is not the way I see it. Rather it seems to me that throughout my life in politics our ambitions have steadily shrunk. Our response to disappointment has not been to lengthen our stride but to shorten the distance to be covered. But with confidence in ourselves and in our future what a nation we could be!”

“Why in the world anyone in America is allowing another language (other than English) to be his first... I don't know”

“We are a British nation with British characteristics. Every country can take some small minorities and in many ways they add to the richness and variety of this country. The moment the minority threatens to become a big one, people get frightened.”

“I believe that the royal family are a focus of patriotism, of loyalty, of affection and of esteem. That is a rare combination, and we should value it highly.”

“The whole of India was the home of every Indian who considered himself as one and behaved as such, no matter to what faith he belonged.”

“America, my friends, is the only country in the world actually founded on liberty - the only one. People went to America to be free.”

“There are too many people who imagine that there is something sophisticated about always believing the best of those who hate your country, and the worst of those who defend it.”

“The mission of this government is much more than the promotion of economic progress. It is to renew the spirit and solidarity of the nation.”

“If I were a German today, I would be proud, proud but also worried. I would be proud of the magnificent achievement of rebuilding my country, entrenching democracy and assuming the undoubtedly preponderant position in Europe. But a united Germany can't and won't subordinate its national interests in economic or in foreign policy to those of the Community indefinitely. Germany's new pre-eminence is a fact - and its power is a problem - as much for Germans as for the rest of Europe.”

“I too have a certain idea of America. Moreover, I would not feel entitled to say that of any other country, except my own. This is not just sentiment, though I always feel ten years younger – despite the jet-lag – when I set foot on American soil: there is something so positive, generous, and open about the people – and everything actually works. I also feel, though, that I have in a sense a share of America.”

“All the rest of the world uses the word electricity. They've borrowed the word from English. But we Chinese have our own word for it!”

“The Chinese people have stood up.”

“We deserve a president with the knowledge and experience to reassure a nation weary of tweets, lies, and incompetence. And we deserve a president who speaks to the best of who we are and challenges us to live up to our ideals.”

“The policy or advantage of [immigration] taking place in a body (I mean the settling of them in a body) may be much questioned; for, by so doing, they retain the language, habits, and principles (good or bad) which they bring with them. Whereas by an intermixture with our people, they, or their descendants, get assimilated to our customs, measures, and laws: in a word, soon become one people.”

“There is a rank due to the United States among nations which will be withheld, if not absolutely lost, by the reputation of weakness.”

“As a rule they will refuse even to sample a foreign dish, they regard such things as garlic and olive oil with disgust, life is unliveable to them unless they have tea and puddings.”

“Men, this stuff that some sources sling around about America wanting out of this war, not wanting to fight, is a crock of bullshit. Americans love to fight, traditionally.”