Thomas Friedman Quotes

Tonight, we reclaim our country so that we can pass on to future generations the freedoms and the opportunity that we have inherited from those who came before us.

Each generation in this country gets the responsibility of being the ambassadors for this American democracy that our parents and grandparents fought, bled, and died for.

You get an opportunity to do something for your country, you better get out and do it.

There's a greatness in this country many of the kids today don't know.

I've met so many people of my son's generation who think a sacrifice is when their satellite or Internet is out for a day and that the country owes them something. That old J.F.K. quote about 'what you can do for your country,' doesn't even seem to apply to so many people.

I am running for the U.S. Senate so that your kids and mine can continue to live in the kind of country that gave my family the blessings of liberty and freedom that only America offers.

Who are we to think that our generation is going to be the first generation to benefit from all the sacrifices that others have made without giving some modern-day equivalent of our own lives, fortunes, and sacred honor?

All I can do is present what I think is in the best interest of this country and how I can best serve this country and the president of the United States. And I feel very good about that opportunity I've had.

I'm not running for president because I think I'm blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save our country in its hour of need. My country saved me. My country saved me, and I cannot forget it. And I will fight for her for as long as I draw breath, so help me God.

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

Each and every time, a new generation has risen up and done what’s needed to be done. Today we are called once more — and it is time for our generation to answer that call. For that is our unyielding faith — that in the face of impossible odds, people who love their country can change it.

I did not get an opportunity to die for the country, but I have got an opportunity to live for the country.

I love this country. And when you are given an opportunity to help your country, in what is one of the most volatile times we've seen in a long time, there's no way I'm not going to step up to do everything I can and make us strong.

America is not a special country by accident. It did not happen on its own. It happened because for over 200 years, each generation before us did what needed to be done.

It's the role of us to run our government, the government by the people, for the people, and I don't think our government is listening to the people. It's our role as patriots to question them, because we elected them. And if they're not fairly and accurately representing us, it's the job of the people, the patriots, to take their country back.

It's so great to have that opportunity with so many young American players coming up now. It's just so exciting. We have to root for the home country.

If patriotism were defined, not as blind obedience to government, not as submissive worship to flags and anthems, but rather as love of one's country, one's fellow citizens (all over the world), as loyalty to the principles of justice and democracy, then patriotism would require us to disobey our government, when it violated those principles.

Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask whether your country has been inhaling paint-thinner fumes.

Our country ... when right, to be kept right. When wrong, to be put right.

Empathy - that is, caring about people and acting responsibly on that care, not just for yourself, but for others - this is something that Barack Obama understands very well. He was a professor of constitutional law at the University of Chicago for ten years. As an expert on the Constitution and on our family values, he understands very well that the country is fundamentally about caring for one another. The day after his speech, he was interviewed on CNN, and Anderson Cooper asked him what patriotism was. He said patriotism begins with caring for one another.

If you want to serve the country, you recognize it's rough and tumble. And it's nothing like serving your country in the military.

Every post is honourable in which a man can serve his country.

You're not patriotic just because you back whoever's in power today or their policies. You're patriotic when you work to improve the lives of the people of your country, your community and your family. Sometimes that means making hard choices, choices that go against your personal interest.

I love my country, not my government.

Be wise; let prudence dictate all your counsels; preserve peace with all men, if possible; stand by the Constitution of your country; observe its principles; and above all, show yourselves men of God, worthy citizens.