George Packer Quotes

It's a strange one - I've been away for 20 years now; I've been away longer than I lived in Canada, but for some reason I remain wholly Canadian.

I wouldn't make an anti-American film. I'm one of the most pro-American foreigners I know. I love America and Americans.

I will never be able to break the hold that America has on me.

At times, I feel America is something that I can actually put my arms around, more than a land mass and a Constitution, something far more containable and understandable. I don't exactly know what it is, but at these times I feel completely woven into it.

It's a complex fate, being an American, and one of the responsibilities it entails is fighting against a superstitious valuation of Europe.

I truly appreciate the special qualities that America and American national myths offer me.

I am an American in every fiber of my body and in every heartbeat.

It's been a good thing for me to try and understand America.

I've gotten to really, really like being back in the States. It's so easy being in your own country, and I really like Americans - typical American towns and provincial college towns are my ideal place to be.

There's a distinct unease about Americans when they are outside the United States. I can't say quite what it is, but they are easily spooked or driven to cynicism - the country is diverse but, paradoxically, extremely insular.

We like being English, but we're not that patriotic.

Americans who read and think are patriots of the first order. The kind who know enough to roll their eyes whenever anyone tries to claim sole custody of the flag and weild it as a blunt instrument. There are as many ways to love America as there are Americans, and our country needs us all.

Whenever people in that part of the world asked Patterson about the wonders of America, the possibilities and the hope of America, Patterson would say that it was a good and fine place but all the Americans were running it into the ground and that it would be a far better place if it had no Americans.

I've lived in America for many years. I mean, I love being a Canadian, but I truly identify with America. I love America so much.

And if that child should ever get the chance to travel the world and someone should ask her where is she from, we believe that she should always be able to hold her head high with pride in her voice when she answers, "I am an American." That is the course we seek. That is the change we are calling for.

I too have a certain idea of America. Moreover, I would not feel entitled to say that of any other country, except my own. This is not just sentiment, though I always feel ten years younger – despite the jet-lag – when I set foot on American soil: there is something so positive, generous, and open about the people – and everything actually works. I also feel, though, that I have in a sense a share of America.

To be able to come back to Nigeria and get so much love for my work is my biggest life blessing. I've always hoped to never get lost in translation with me being British-born.

My whole life, I was told that the U.S. was a horrible country.

The best critics of America are Americans.

Always, for me, when I am dealing with subjects related to my country that are very emotional, I have to find the right tone and distance because, obviously, I start with anger, asking 'why that happened' and 'why it is still happening.' I work to rise above my personal anger but still stay connected to my emotions. That's a big challenge.

I grew up with comic books, and I'm from the Caribbean, so comic books were really a great interrogator of American culture for me.

Be proud, proud, proud to be an American.

In America, we see a fan and it is like, 'Oh, we are proud! We have a fan in America!'

It's important to be really verbal about what you believe, to try to claim America as your own, as we're trying to figure out the identity of this country and what we're going to be.

Even as a kid, I don't think I bought into a lot of the mythology about Canada.