The mystic cords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the angels of our nature.

Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism – how passionately I hate them!

I understand a ship to be made for the carrying and preservation of the cargo, and so long as the ship can be saved, with the cargo, it should never be abandoned. This Union likewise should never be abandoned unless it fails and the possibility of its preservation shall cease to exist, without throwing passengers and cargo overboard.

You’ll never have a quiet world till you knock the patriotism out of the human race.

When a nation is filled with strife, then do patriots flourish.

Whenever you hear a man speak of his love for his country, it is a sign that he expects to be paid for it.

No one has been barred on account of his race from fighting or dying for America, there are no white or colored signs on the foxholes or graveyards of battle.

There’s no bigger task than protecting the homeland of our country.

I have only one yardstick by which I test every major problem – and that yardstick is: Is it good for America?

The American people are bigger than any president. I suppose I have faith in my country and in what it is founded on and the values we hold dear.

For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change. And I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction.

There is no room for military people, including our veterans, to see themselves as victims, even if so many of our countrymen are prone to relish that role.

Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.

The greatest thrill in my life was to represent the United States of America.

Our love, our gratitude, our admiration for our men and women in uniform, our veterans and their families – all of that is bigger than any one party or any one election.

So long as I’m Commander-in-Chief, we will sustain the strongest military the world has ever known. When you take off the uniform, we will serve you as well as you’ve served us – because no one who fights for this country should have to fight for a job, or a roof over their head, or the care that they need when they come home.

This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny.

My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.

I suppose, in a way, this has become part of my soul. It is a symbol of my life. Whatever I have done that really matters, I’ve done wearing it. When the time comes, it will be in this that I journey forth. What greater honor could come to an American, and a soldier?

When we assumed the Soldier, we did not lay aside the Citizen.

Unfortunately, after Sept. 11, there was an outburst in America of intense suffering and patriotism, and the Bush administration was very shrewd and effective in painting anyone who disagreed with the policies as unpatriotic or even traitorous.

When soldiers have been baptized in the fire of a battle-field, they have all one rank in my eyes.

I have always reckoned the dignity of the republic of first importance and preferable to life.

Only Americans can hurt America.

The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission.

We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain – that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism.

Who serves his country well has no need of ancestors.

Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.

For me, America is really, truly the indispensable nation.

I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.

The most terrible job in warfare is to be a second lieutenant leading a platoon when you are on the battlefield.

Patriotism is the willingness to kill and be killed for trivial reasons.

I’m not an ambitious person, there is no ambition in my life. I have a mission in my life. And my mission is to serve my country. And when I am working for my state, it means I am working for my country, or my nation.

Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all others because you were born in it.

I will never relent in defending America – whatever it takes.

If the people of Utah shall peacefully form a State Constitution tolerating polygamy, will the Democracy admit them into the Union?

Here at home, when Americans were standing in long lines to give blood after the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, we squandered an obvious opportunity to make service a noble cause again, and rekindle an American spirit of community.

It was patriotism, not communism, that inspired me.

Patriotism, when it wants to make itself felt in the domain of learning, is a dirty fellow who should be thrown out of doors.

If ever I feel the soul within me elevate and expand to those dimensions not wholly unworthy of its Almighty Architect, it is when I contemplate the cause of my country, deserted by all the world beside, and I standing up boldly and lone and hurling defiance at her victorious oppressors.

Just like the Alamo, somebody damn well needed to go to their aid. Well, by God, I’m going to Viet Nam’s aid!

We are America, second to none, and we own the finish line. Don’t forget it.

A man who says that no patriot should attack the war until it is over… is saying no good son should warn his mother of a cliff until she has fallen.

These are not dark days: these are great days – the greatest days our country has ever lived.

Among the friends of Union, there is great diversity of sentiment and of policy in regard to slavery and the African race among us.

Whoever won’t fight when the President calls him, deserves to be kicked back in his hole and kept there.

If we love our country, we should also love our countrymen.

One thing I just want to say to the military families – while you might not wear a uniform, I know – we all know, the nation knows – that you serve and sacrifice right alongside of your loved ones. And we are so grateful and proud of all of you for your service to this nation.

I can assure you that my first and foremost interest is my country.

If we have to use force, it is because we are America. We are the indispensable nation. We stand tall. We see further into the future.

There is nothing wrong with America that faith, love of freedom, intelligence, and energy of her citizens cannot cure.

The path we have chosen for the present is full of hazards, as all paths are. The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission.

I pay a lot of tax, and I feel, one of the reasons I stay and pay why I’m not based in Monaco… I think my country helped me.

‚My country, right or wrong‘ is a thing no patriot would ever think of saying except in a desperate case. It is like saying ‚My mother, drunk or sober.‘

I have never been a quitter. To leave office before my term is completed is opposed to every instinct in my body. But as president I must put the interests of America first Therefore, I shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow.

The resolve of our great nation is being tested. But make no mistake, we will show the world that we will pass the test.

The honor of a nation is its life.

If I went to work in a factory the first thing I’d do is join a union.

I think Americans are very patriotic.

True patriotism is better than the wrong kind of piety.