“What does it mean to be an American?”

“Yet America is a poem in our eyes; its ample geography dazzles the imagination, and it will not wait long for metres”. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

“A man's country is not a certain area of land, of mountains, rivers, and woods, but it is a principle; and patriotism is loyalty to that principle.” ~George William Curtis

“America is an enormous frosted cupcake in the middle of millions of starving people. ~Mr. Vandervort

“Europe was created by history. America was created by philosophy.” --Margaret Thatcher

"Wherever the standard of freedom and independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will be America's heart. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator of her own." John Adams:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. That they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness...” – The Declaration of Independence (Jefferson)

"A nation which does not remember what it was yesterday, does not know what it is today, nor what it is trying to do. We are trying to do a futile thing if we do not know where we have come from or what we have been about." - Woodrow Wilson