American Tradition Quotes

• No! Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try.

  George Lucas

  Inspirational, Motivational, Inspiring

  George Lucas (2015). “ArtFolds: Yoda: Yoda and the Force”, p.75, Simon and Schuster

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• Traditional people of Indian nations have interpreted the two roads that face the light-skinned race as the road to technology and the road to spirituality. We feel that the road to technology.... has led modern society to a damaged and seared earth. Could it be that the road to technology represents a rush to destruction, and that the road to spirituality represents the slower path that the traditional native people have traveled and are now seeking again? The earth is not scorched on this trail. The grass is still growing there.

  William Commanda

  Native American, Technology, Two

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• Our American tradition of neighbor helping neighbor has always been one of our greatest strengths and most noble traditions.

  Ronald Reagan

  Noble, Helping, Tradition

  United States. President (1981-1989 : Reagan), Ronald Reagan (1982). “Ronald Reagan”

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• When we give what we can, and give it with joy, we don't just renew the American tradition of giving, we also renew ourselves.

  William J. Clinton

  Giving, Joy, Tradition

  Clinton, William J. (2000). “Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton, 2000-2001”, p.2583, Best Books on

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• Offering thanks in the midst of tragedy is an American tradition, . even during a bloody Civil War.

  Abraham Lincoln

  War, Offering, Civilization

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• Philanthropy, charity, giving voluntarily and freely... call it what you like, but it is truly a jewel of an American tradition.

  John F. Kennedy

  Jewels, Giving, Charity

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• For us to ignore by inaction the slaughter of American civilians and American soldiers, whether in nightclubs or airline terminals, is simply not in the American tradition. Self-defense is not only our right, it is our duty.

  Ronald Reagan

  Self, Soldier, Defense

  Ronald Reagan (2004). “Speaking My Mind: Selected Speeches”, p.288, Simon and Schuster

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• The gratification of helping others is a very American tradition and a Judeo-Christian tradition. Now it is great to see young people creating funds and giving back in all sorts of productive ways. It's a terrifically satisfying thing.

  Evelyn Lauder

  Christian, Helping Others, Creating

  "Using My Passion To Help Find A Cure" by Evelyn Lauder, www.huffingtonpost.com. September 17, 2007.

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• It is in the American tradition to stand up for one's rights--even if the new way to stand up for one's rights is to sit down.

  John F. Kennedy

  Rights, Way, Tradition

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• I cannot help but wonder whether, by continuing and expanding the school lunch program, we aren't witnessing, if not encouraging, the slow demise of yet another American tradition: the brown bag. Perhaps we are beholding yet another break in the chain that links child to home.

  Charles Mathias

  Children, School, Home

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• American traditions and the American ethic require us to be truthful, but the most important reason is that truth is the best propaganda and lies are the worst. To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; to be credible we must be truthful. It is as simple as that.

  Edward R. Murrow

  Truth, Lying, Simple

  Testimony before a Congressional Committee, pdaa.publicdiplomacy.org. May 1963.

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• I think that Hillary Clinton has an appreciation that American power needs to be put in the service of American values, which is an American tradition and a pretty good one, and I think she was willing to do that.

  Daniel Fried

  Appreciation, Thinking, Needs

  Source: www.politico.com

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• Come on, it's an American tradition. Apple soup? Mom's homemade chicken pie?' She chuckled in spite of herself, then winced. 'It's apple pie and Mom's homemade chicken soup. But you didn't do badly, for a start.

  L. J. Smith

  Mom, Apples, Pie

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• There is a long American tradition of suspicion of concentrated economic power because of its tendency to corrupt government and turn it from a democracy into a plutocracy.

  Zephyr Teachout

  Government, Long, Political

  Zephyr Teachout (2014). “Corruption in America: From Benjamin Franklin's Snuff Box to Citizens United”, p.301, Harvard University Press

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• Self-help and self-control are the essence of the American tradition.

  Franklin D. Roosevelt

  Self, Essence, Helping

  Franklin D. Roosevelt (1995). “The Essential Franklin Delano Roosevelt”, Gramercy

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• As to the American tradition of non-meddling, Anarchism asks that it be carried down to the individual himself.

  Voltairine de Cleyre

  Anarchy, Tradition, Individual

  Voltairine De Cleyre (1989). “Anarchism and American Traditions”, p.17, Library of Alexandria

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• If we move away from the American tradition of lawyers defending those with whom they vehemently disagree -- as we temporarily did during the McCarthy period -- we weaken our commitment to the rule of law... So beware of an approach which limits advocacy to that which is approved by the standards of political correctness.

  Alan Dershowitz

  Respect, Moving, Commitment

  Alan Dershowitz (2009). “Letters to a Young Lawer (Easyread Large Edition)”, p.50, ReadHowYouWant.com

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• The word is important in Native American tradition. You speak the path on which you walk. Your words make the trail.

  Diane Glancy

  Native American, Important, Path

  Diane Glancy (1996). “Claiming Breath”, p.4, U of Nebraska Press

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• The American tradition of foreign policy exceptionalism, our grand strategy as a nation, reaches back much further. Really at the turn - the end of the 19th century, when we achieved power a generation after the Civil War, the outlines of an American vision came into focus, and what we - it was based on two things. One, our realization that our values and our interests were the same, and that our business interests would advance as our values advanced in the world.

  Daniel Fried

  War, Two, Focus

  Source: www.politico.com

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• My concern is to develop a North American type of anarchism that comes out of the American tradition, or that at least can be communicated to Americans and that takes into consideration that Americans are not any longer people of European background.

  Murray Bookchin

  People, Tradition, Consideration

  Source: robertgraham.wordpress.com

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• I don't feel the individualist anarchists, particularly in the American tradition, including the Transcendental tradition of New England, in any way deserve the derogatory comments that are often made about them by the left. When one gets down to it ultimately, my anarcho-communism stems from a commitment to true individuality. My attempt to recover the power and the right of the individual to control his or her life and destiny is the basis to my anarcho-communism.

  Murray Bookchin

  Commitment, Destiny, Individuality

  Interview with Jeff Riggenbach, reason.com. October 1979.

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• In American tradition a certain kind of, I would say, desperate American friendliness in which the poet tries to reach out through the page to make a connection by the side of the road with some other person.

  Edward Hirsch

  Trying, Connections, Pages

  "How to Read a Poem". Big Think interview, bigthink.com.

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• The principle of self defense is an American tradition that began at Lexington and Concord.

  Robert F. Williams

  Self, Principles, Defense

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• A lot of things occurred to me with shamans in Peru.There were a number of different kinds of experiences that you learn from doing ritual and taking ayahuasca [a common tropical forest hallucinogen] is the key to understanding the native consciousness and perception of the world with the Peruvian shamans that you wouldn't get unless you had been with them, but every shamanic tradition, including the Native American tradition of medicine and cleansing ritual, like the Sun Dance or the sweat lodge.

  Fred Alan Wolf

  Native American, Ayahuasca, Sweat

  Source: www.edgemagazine.net

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• To say that the Afro American created jazz doesn't mean anything bad about Anglo Americans, and I always teach my younger jazz musicians that at this point the entirety of the American tradition is your heritage, and you need to know it.

  Wynton Marsalis

  Mean, Musician, Needs

  Source: www.pbs.org

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