In every American there is an air of incorrigible¹ innocence², which seems to conceal³ a diabolical⁴ cunning.

A. E. Housman (1859 - 1936)

Too many of us look upon Americans as dollar chasers. This is a cruel libel, even if it is reiterated⁵ thoughtlessly by the Americans themselves.

Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

The people reign⁶ over the American political world as God rules over the universe. It is the cause and the end of all things; everything rises out of it and is absorbed back into it.

Alexis De Tocqueville (1805 - 1859), Democracy in America, 1835

Americans will put up with anything provided it doesn't block traffic.

Dan Rather (1931 - )

I was born an American; I will live an American; I shall die an American.

Daniel Webster (1782 - 1852)

How much longer are we going to think it necessary to be ''American'' before (or in contradistinction to) being cultivated, being enlightened, being humane⁷, and having the same intellectual discipline as other civilized⁸ countries?

Edith Wharton (1862 - 1937)

I sometimes think that the saving grace of America lies in the fact that the overwhelming majority of Americans are possessed⁹ of two great qualities- a sense of humor and a sense of proportion.

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882 - 1945)

Americans never quit.

General Douglas Macarthur (1880 - 1964)

Americans adore me and will go on adoring me until I say something nice about them.

George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)

Americans are overreachers; overreaching is the most admirable of the many American excesses.

George F. Will (1941 - ), Statecraft as Soulcraft

Half of the American people have never read a newspaper. Half never voted for President. One hopes it is the same half.

Gore¹⁰ Vidal (1925 - )

Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.

H. L. Mencken (1880 - 1956)

The character inherent in the American people has done all that has been accomplished¹¹; and it would have done somewhat more, if the government had not sometimes got in its way.

Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862)

It is, I think, an indisputable fact that Americans are, as Americans, the most self- conscious people in the world, and the most addicted¹² to the belief that the other nations are in a conspiracy¹³ to under-value them.

Henry James (1843 - 1916)

Americans are benevolently¹⁴ ignorant about Canada, while Canadians are malevolently¹⁵ well informed about the United States.

J. Bartlett Brebner

George Washington had a vision for this country. Was it three days of uninterrupted shopping?

Jeff Melvoin, Northern Exposure, Bolt from the Blue, 1994

The American, by nature, is optimistic. He is experimental, an inventor and a builder who builds best when called upon to build greatly.

John F. Kennedy (1917 - 1963)

This nation was founded by many men of many nations and backgrounds. It was founded on the principle that all men are created equal, and that the rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.

John F. Kennedy (1917 - 1963), Radio and television report to the American people in civil rights, June 11, 1963

Ninety-eight percent of the adults in this country are decent, hard-working, honest Americans. It's the other lousy two percent that get all the publicity¹⁶. But then--we elected them.

Lily Tomlin (1939 - )

Sitting at the table doesn't make you a diner, unless you eat some of what's on that plate. Being here in America doesn't make you an American. Being born here in America doesn't make you an American.

Malcolm X (1925 - 1965), Malcolm X Speaks, 1965

An Englishman is a person who does things because they have been done before. An American is a person who does things because they haven't been done before.

Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)

The people of the United States, perhaps more than any other nation in history, love to abase¹⁷ themselves and proclaim their unworthiness, and seem to find refreshment¹⁸ in doing so... That is a dark frivolity¹⁹, but still frivolity.

Robertson Davies

For the American people are a very generous people and will forgive almost any weakness, with the possible exception of stupidity.

Will Rogers (1879 - 1935), The Illiterate Digest, 1924