Independence Day Quotes
Despite the name, this is not a page about the American Fourth of July. It is built from the freedom and patriotism pages, and the writers who turn up come from all over: the Puerto Rican poet Julia de Burgos, the Italian anarchist Bruno Filippi, Shakespeare, Anna Quindlen. De Burgos has a line about an invaded nation where today’s battlefield is independence.
A few entries are there because of a keyword, not a mood. Cervantes’s remark about not thrusting his nose into other men’s porridge (Don Quixote, 1605) is about minding your own business. If you want something for a speech, sort by source grade and skip the oddities.
Most quoted on independence day:
Democracy and liberty only exist when your armed forces want them to.
Freedom from lower qualities is an essential qualification required for spiritual progress.
“Go and serve the country with integrity, professionalism and patriotism.”
“Lawfulness and patriotism can be cultivated first at home.”
America’s daughters are just as capable of defending liberty as her sons.
We are equal with men, and with the freedom to choose what we want to be.
I have never seen a man exercise the freedom to wear a veil.
Freedom is not to limit, but to share;
And freedom here is freedom everywhere.
A people averse to the institution of private property is without the first element of freedom.
If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all.
We do not believe that in this country freedom is reserved for the lucky, or happiness for the few.