98 American Citizenship Quotes

Following is our list of american citizenship quotations and slogans full of insightful wisdom and perspective about american citizens.

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Famous American Citizenship Quotes

I was fortunate enough to be an American citizen by birth and I have the birth certificate to prove it. — Raul Labrador

I am an American citizen and feel I am entitled to the same rights as any other citizen. — Nat King Cole

The right of every American to first-class citizenship is the most important issue of our time. — Jackie Robinson

Americanism is a question of principle, of idealism, of character. It is not a matter of birthplace, or creed, or line of descent. — Theodore Roosevelt

Citizenship is the chance to make a difference to the place where you belong. — Charles Handy

Birth on U.S. territory has never been an absolute claim to citizenship. — Phyllis Schlafly

I am an American citizen, first class. I don't have a bade that makes me an official good guy like you, but Im work just as honest for a living. — Lucky Luciano

We can have no '50-50' allegiance in this country. Either a man is an American and nothing else, or he is not an American at all. — Theodore Roosevelt

In the eyes of government we are just one race here. It is American. - Antonin Scalia

In the eyes of government we are just one race here. It is American. — Antonin Scalia

The United States government has always been proud of the welcome it has extended to good men of every nation, seeking freedom and homes and bread. — John Muir

Good citizenship and defending democracy means living up to the ideals and values that make this country great. — Ronald Reagan

All distinctions of birth or of rank have been abolished. All citizens, whether native or adopted, are placed upon terms of precise equality. All are entitled to equal rights and equal protection. — James K. Polk

We thought I was going to be a great athlete, and we were wrong, and I thought I was going to be a great entertainer, and that wasn't it either. I'm going to be an American Citizen. First class. — Dick Gregory

In the USA, we are Americans. Period. — Vivek Ramaswamy

The only title in our democracy superior to that of President is the title of citizen. — Louis D. Brandeis

American Citizens Quotes

With all my devotion to the Union, and the feeling of loyalty and duty of an American citizen, I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relative, my children, my home. I have, therefore, resigned my commission in the Army. — Robert E. Lee

There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities. — Theodore Roosevelt

I had always hoped that this land might become a safe and agreeable asylum to the virtuous and persecuted part of mankind, to whatever nation they might belong. — George Washington

American citizenship quote Defiance, not obedience, is the American's answer to overbearing authority.
Defiance, not obedience, is the American's answer to overbearing authority.

Think about it: we went into slavery pagans; we came out Christians. We went into slavery pieces of property; we came out American citizens. We went into slavery with chains clanking about our wrists; we came out with the American ballot in our hands. — Booker T. Washington

When it comes to my rights as an American citizen, and yours, I am a triumphalist and an absolutist. Anything less is an insult. — James Meredith

The American citizen must be made aware that today a relatively small group of people is proclaiming its purposes to be the will of the People. That elitist approach to government must be repudiated. — William E. Simon

American citizenship quote What if the American people woke up and understood that the official reasons for going to war are al
What if the American people woke up and understood that the official reasons for going to war are almost always based on lies and promoted by war propaganda in order to serve special interests.

To women, Americans of color, and the citizens of the world, Donald Trump, if he is taken at his word, represents a threat to you all. — Bret Weinstein

The Constitution be never construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press, or the rights of conscience; or to prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own arms. — Samuel Adams

We are not a nation of immigrants. We are a nation of citizens. I am sick and tired of the American citizen being demeaned and treated as a second-class citizen while anybody who crosses the border is treated as the most virtuous human being on the face of the earth. — Mark Levin

To be free . . . to walk the good American earth as equal citizens, to live without fear, to enjoy the fruits of our toil, to give our children every opportunity in life--that dream which we have held so long in our hearts is today the destiny that we hold in our hands. — Paul Robeson

Citizenship Quotes

The highest obligation and privilege of citizenship is bearing arms. - George S. Patton

The highest obligation and privilege of citizenship is bearing arms. — George S. Patton

The soldier is the Army. No army is better than its soldiers. The Soldier is also a citizen. In fact, the highest obligation and privilege of citizenship is that of bearing arms for one’s country — George S. Patton

If I had to choose between baseball’s Hall of Fame and first class citizenship for all of my people. I would say first-class citizenship. — Jackie Robinson

If I knew something that would serve my country but would harm mankind, I would never reveal it; for I am a citizen of humanity first and by necessity, and a citizen of France second, and only by accident — Baron de Montesquieu

I have long had a tendency to tie marksmanship to morality. The essence of good marksmanship is self-control, and self-control is the essence of good citizenship. It is too easy to say that a good shot is automatically a good man, but it would be equally incorrect to ignore the connection. — Jeff Cooper

Freedom includes the right to say what others may object to and resent... The essence of citizenship is to be tolerant of strong and provocative words. — John Diefenbaker

The worth of the state, in the long run, is the worth of the individuals composing it. — John Stuart Mill

It is not the function of government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the government from falling into error. — Robert H. Jackson

Nothing could be more insulting to me than the concept of civil rights. It means perpetual second-class citizenship for me and my kind. — James Meredith

Democracy is the most demanding of all forms of government in terms of the energy, imagination, and public spirit required of the individual. — George C. Marshall

Dual Citizenship Quotes

Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in the kingdom of the well and in the kingdom of the sick. Although we all prefer to use only the good passport, sooner or later each of us is obliged, at least for a spell, to identify ourselves as citizens of that other place. — Susan Sontag

Christians have a dual citizenship - on earth and in heaven - and our citizenship in heaven ought to make us better people here on earth. — Warren W. Wiersbe

When somebody has dual citizenship and commits a crime, his Dutch passport should be revoked and he should be deported to the other country, even if he was born here. — Geert Wilders

Illness is the night-side of life, a more onerous citizenship. Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in the kingdom of the well and in the kingdom of the sick. — Susan Sontag

Writing is how I communicate my deepest beliefs, and what I hope are helpful observations about our dual citizenship, as children of God, as regular old mixed-up, worried, flawed, precious human beings. — Anne Lamott

Living exclusively in the land of the head or the heart will always be a limiting, limited experience. The most successful among us have dual citizenship. — Bill Crawford

There's no issue whatsoever. Ted Cruz has dual citizenship, because his mom is a U.S. citizen, so he gets naturalized citizen as a result of that. — Donald Trump

I have dual citizenship; I would be happy to go to England. I would be very happy to go to America. — John McAfee

What It Means To Be An American Quotes

And this President wakes up every morning, looks out across America and is proud to announce, 'It could be worse.' It could be worse? Is that what it means to be an American? It could be worse? Of course not. What defines us as Americans is our unwavering conviction that we know it must be better. — Mitt Romney

And children, if your parents haven't been teaching you what it means to be an American, let 'em know and nail 'em on it. That would be a very American thing to do. — Ronald Reagan

I'm interested in what it means to be an American. I'm interested in what it means to live in America. I'm interested in the kind of country that we live in and leave our kids. I'm interested in trying to define what that country is. — Bruce Springsteen

Sitting at the table doesn't make you a diner, unless you eat some of what's on that plate. — Malcolm X

What we do know is that the planet is going from 7 billion people today to 9 billion. More people want to live like us, drive American- size cars, live in an American-size home, and eat American-size Big Macs. What does that mean? It means that energy demand is going to be going up. — Thomas Friedman

What does it mean to be an American? While each of us may have our own specific answer to that question, we likely can agree on the basic principles of America: freedom, equal opportunity, and rights accompanied by responsibilities. — Ben Nelson

Writers like Twain, Whitman, Dickinson, Melville, Louise Erdrich, Toni Morrison, Russell Banks, Carolyn Chute, Alice Walker, so many others that I read coming up as a writer, that helped form my ideas of what it means to be American - and an American writer. I'm always in conversation with them. — Micah Perks

All Americans deserve an equal crack at what it means to be a - having - having resources in your own home and in your state and in your country. — Michael Eric Dyson

Most of the Jewish writer friends I have are American, and I feel closer to them because they're always obsessed with one issue - identity: what does it mean to be an American Jew? — Etgar Keret

Each generation of Americans must define what it means to be an American. — William J. Clinton

People Writing About American Citizenship

Name Quotes Likes
Read quotes by Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt
quotes on leadership, imperialism and nature

752 11364
Read quotes by Nat King Cole

Nat King Cole
quotes on love, nature and life

40 458
Read quotes by Jackie Robinson

Jackie Robinson

63 1389
Read quotes by Charles Handy

Charles Handy
quotes on education, art and constitution

45 880
Read quotes by Phyllis Schlafly

Phyllis Schlafly
quotes on education, freedom and women's rights

85 1759
Read quotes by Antonin Scalia

Antonin Scalia
quotes on constitution, character and second amendment

79 13633

More American Citizenship Quotes

At the 1894 ALA conference it was fairly well agreed that the primary goal of the public library must be to teach good citizenship. Libraries recognized that such "Americanization" could be achieved through literacy. Thus, teaching immigrants to read was not just a benefit in and of itself; literacy would also serve the interests of democracy. — Kevin Mattson

The laws should be rigidly enforced which prohibit the immigration of a servile class to compete with American labor, with no intention of acquiring citizenship, and bringing with them and retaining habits and customs repugnant to our civilization. — Grover Cleveland

As long as I live, I will never forget that day 21 years ago when I raised my hand and took the oath of citizenship. Do you know how proud I was? I was so proud that I walked around with an American flag around my shoulders all day long. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

There is no global anthem, no global currency, no certificate of global citizenship. We pledge allegiance to one flag, and that flag is the American flag. — Donald Trump

The gospel of grace nullifies our adulation of televangelists, charismatic superstars, and local church heroes. It obliterates the two-class citizenship theory operative in many American churches. For grace proclaims the awesome truth that all is gift. All that is good is ours, not by right, but by the sheer bounty of a gracious God. — Brennan Manning

Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. Our requirements for world leadership, our hopes for economic growth, and the demands of citizenship itself in an era such as this all require the maximum development of every young American's capacity. The human mind is our fundamental resource. — John F. Kennedy

People – and I think this is particularly true of Americans – don’t like to be passive. They like to seize control. — Martha C. Nussbaum

In a world of inhumanity, war and terrorism, American citizenship is a very precious possession. — Phyllis Schlafly

...When we quietly go about our business as our rights are plundered, when we yield to passivity and switch on the wii and hand over our power, we are not acting like true Americans. Indeed, at those moments we are giving up our citizenship. — Naomi Wolf

I shall accord to myself the honor of inscribing myself as an applicant for the American citizenship which according to law I can obtain only after five years residence in this country. And I shall yield to no one of my future countrymen in patriotism. I consider America now my real home. — Wilhelm Steinitz

Citizens by birth or choice of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to you, in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. — George Washington

Getting my library card was like citizenship; it was like American citizenship. — Oprah Winfrey

Let us at all times remember that all American citizens are brothers of a common country, and should dwell together in bonds of fraternal feeling. — Abraham Lincoln

A nation, as a society, forms a moral person, and every member of it is personally responsible for his society. — Thomas Jefferson

The criteria for serving one's country should be competence, courage and willingness to serve. When we deny people the chance to serve because of their sexual orientation, we deprive them of their rights of citizenship, and we deprive our armed forces the service of willing and capable Americans. — Dianne Feinstein

Over the years, dozens of American companies have filed papers to trade in their U.S. corporate citizenship for citizenship in tax haven countries like Bermuda. — Richard Neal

You want to defend citizenship? Don't persecute or isolate those without papers. Just live like a citizen. That'd be a first-class way to be American. — Eric Liu

It's about time that we create first class citizenship for every American plain and simple. Every New Jersey-ian. This should not be a popular vote. This is something we should do now. — Cory Booker

Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag -if they do, they must be consequences -perhaps loss of citizenship or year in a jail. — Donald Trump

Social media changed Chinese mindset. More and more Chinese intend to embrace freedom of speech and human rights as their birthright, not some imported American privilege. But also, it gave the Chinese a national public sphere for people to, it's like a training of their citizenship, preparing for future democracy. — Michael Anti

What makes America special is that people come here, assimilate and become American with all of the rights and responsibilities citizenship bestows. — Zoe Lofgren

Along with voting, jury duty, and paying taxes, goofing off is one of the central obligations of American citizenship. — Sarah Vowell

Our mission is at once the oldest and the most basic of this country: to right wrong, to do justice, to serve man. Because all Americans just must have the right to vote. And we are going to give them that right. All Americans must have the privileges of citizenship regardless of race. And they are going to have those privileges of citizenship regardless of race. — Lyndon B. Johnson

Millions of us, myself included, go back generations in this country, with ancestors who put in the painstaking work to become citizens. So we don't like the notion that anyone might get a free pass to American citizenship. — Barack Obama

In real life, there are right-wingers, there are anti-immigrant activists who want to overturn this constitutional right that we have to become Americans when we're born in this country. There's lots of people who believe that this has led to the phenomenon of the anchor babies. I am an anchor baby. My parents were able to receive their residency and citizenship because, I, a U.S. citizen child of theirs, was born in Los Angeles. — Hector Tobar

The Supreme Court of the United States of America will never under any circumstances allow anyone to be stripped of their citizenship because they burned the American flag. And if you don't believe that, you haven't been reading constitutional law for the past seventy years. — Joe Scarborough

You wouldn't replace your carpet at home if you still had a hole in the roof...We're talking about any time you start waving a carrot such as American citizenship without securing the borders, that number [of undocumented immigrants] that we have today I believe will double or triple. — Lou Barletta

Our citizenship in the United States is our national character. Our citizenship in any particular state is only our local distinction. By the latter we are known at home, by the former to the world. Our great title is AMERICANS -- our inferior one varies with the place. — Thomas Paine

Have you ever watched someone become American? Last week, at a national citizenship conference I organize, thirty immigrants from 17 countries swore an oath and became citizens of the United States. It was a stirring experience for the hundreds of people in the room. — Eric Liu

I want manufacturing to be back into the United States so that American workers can benefit. — Donald Trump

If Trump doesn`t respect all Americans, how can we trust him to serve all Americans? — Hillary Clinton

We want products made in America, made by American hands. You probably saw the Keystone pipeline I approved recently. — Donald Trump

The one thing that unites Sunni, Shiites and Kurds is they want the Americans out. — Tony Benn

We are Americans, and the future belongs to us. — Donald Trump

One of the revelations in that book [Lincoln in the Bardo] for me was this idea about citizenship. Even that word - citizenship - for someone my age, it makes me cringe. But, to me, the political space we're in now argues for a reboot of fairly simple ideas and the examination of the way that Americans have not been living into them. — George Saunders

The American public is a very specialized public. — Sergio Leone

I've been in America for almost ten years. I've had many parts of the American experience. I've been all over this country and seen many different parts of it. It's just that I'm not an American. I've never become an American. I'm talking about the whole thing-psychologically, citizenship, the whole trip. Of course I've definitely been influenced by America-I'm definitely influenced by the music and the culture. — Van Morrison

I was born in the U.S. Why should anyone who has an unfavorable view of the American government renounce his or her citizenship? Why don't its supporters relinquish their citizenship first? — Mohammad Marandi

I understand things that are American, for better or worse. — Twyla Tharp

A massive new guest worker program hurts American workers. ... If a guest worker program were to provide a path to citizenship, we would be rewarding lawbreakers with the greatest honor our country can bestow - citizenship. — Lamar S. Smith

[American Citizenship] captures the enduring idea that this country only works when we accept certain obligations to one another and to future generations — Barack Obama

No one can be a true Muslim and a true American simultaneously. — Wafa Sultan

The choice before us is plain: Christ or chaos, conviction or compromise, discipline or disintegration. I am rather tired of hearing about our rights and privileges as Americans. The time is come - it is now - when we ought to hear about the duties and responsibilities of our citizenship. America's future depends upon her accepting and demonstrating God's government. — Peter Marshall

We [Americans] really need a system that comprehensively looks at the fact that we need these workers in the United States, we need to be able to provide a pathway to citizenship. We need to be able to allow them to be here legally and to do the work that they are doing and that we need. — Pramila Jayapal

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