Thomas Jefferson Quotes

I am forced to make a rule not to write letters on the occasion of any celebration, no matter how important, simply because I can not write one without either committing myself to write hundreds of others or else running the risk of giving offense to worthy persons. I make as exception in this case because the lamentable and terrible suffering to which so many of the Jewish people in other lands have been subject to express my deep sympathy for them, as I now do, but at the same time to point out what fine qualities of citizenship have been displayed by the men of Jewish faith and race, who, having come to this country, enjoy the benefits of free institutions and equal treatment before the law… in the spiritual world that no one can wrong others and yet in the end himself escape unhurt… Jews of the United States, who now number more than a million, have remained loyal to their faith and their race traditions, they have become indissolubly incorporated in the great army of American citizenship, prepared to make all sacrifice for the country, either in War or peace, and striving for the perpetuation of good government and for the maintenance of the principles embodied in the Constitution. They are honorably distinguished by their industry, their obedience to law, and their devotion to the national welfare.

For most of us, fidelity is faithfulness to an obligation, trust, or duty. For the men and women of the FBI, fidelity also means fidelity to country. It means fidelity to justice and the law, fidelity to the Constitution, fidelity to equality and liberty.

When you enlisted into the armed forces you swore to support and defend a Constitution that did not yet fully apply to you. You chose to endure the same sacrifices as your fellow comrades in arms to preserve the freedom of a land that was not yet fully yours. You accepted that you might have to pay the ultimate price on behalf of a nation to which you did not fully belong. Now, you will officially become citizens of the United States, a country to which each of you has already borne true faith and allegiance in your hearts and your deeds.

THIS Duty implies that we should affectionately interest ourselves in whatever concerns the Honour, the Fame and Security of our Sovereign and his Government.

The love of their country is with them only a mode of flattering its master; as soon as they think that master can no longer hear, they speak of everything with a frankness which is the more startling because those who listen to it become responsible.

The test of good citizenship is loyalty to country.

Judges, like other citizens, do not wish to hinder a nation’s ‘war effort’.

In the name of Almighty God and on the Holy Gospels, by this irrevocable and sacred oath I unite myself in body, in goods, in will and in my whole potential to the Corsican Nation, in such a way that I myself and everything that belongs to me shall belong to it without redemption. I swear to live and to die for it, to observe all its laws and to obey its legitimate leaders and magistrates in everything that is in conformity with the law.

We will never bring disgrace to this, our country, by any act of cowardice. We will fight for the ideals of this, our country. We will revere and obey the laws. We will strive to quicken our sense of civic duty. Thus, in all these ways, we will transmit this country greater, better, stronger, prouder and more beautiful than it was transmitted to us.

One of the best ways to get yourself a reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go about repeating the very phrases which our founding fathers used in the great struggle for Independence.

Senator, I do not believe you have ever taken an oath to support the Constitution of the United States with fewer reservations than I have or would now. Nor do I believe you are more attached to the theories and practices of Americanism than I am. I rest my answer on that statement.

I am now at the head of two thousand and seventy volunteers, the choicest of our citizens, who go at the call of their country to execute the will of the Government; who have no Constitutional scruples, and if the Government orders, will rejoice at the opportunity of placing the American eagle on the ramparts of Mobile, Pensacola and Fort St. Augustine.

My country? My country is the United States.

A man's country is not a certain area of land, of mountains, rivers, and woods, but it is a principle; and patriotism is loyalty to that principle.

The primary duty of a citizen is loyalty to country…. It is exhibited by an absolute and unreserved obedience to his country’s call.

A good woman is one who loves her husband and loves her country and has no desire to run either of them.

I can not be a traitor, for I owe him no allegiance. He is not my Sovereign; he never received my homage; and whilst life is in this persecuted body, he never shall receive it.

Who is not patriotic cannot be considered Portuguese.

If you are unhappy with the United States. pick a better country and go live there.

The citizen who criticizes his country is paying it an implied tribute.... It means that he has not given up hope for his country, that he still has hope for it ... I do not think it is "selling America short" when we ask a great deal of her; on the contrary, it is those who ask nothing, those who see no fault, who are really selling America short!

If you know a better place to live right now than this country, get a ticket and try to get there.

It gives me the greatest pleasure to say, as I do from the bottom of my heart, that never in the history of the country, in any crisis and under any conditions, have our Jewish fellow citizens failed to live up to the highest standards of citizenship and patriotism.

I just don't identify myself with a place. I just don't get it. Like, why am I cheering for this town? Towns are good and bad but they don't have principles, constitutions. You wouldn't go to war for your town.

Every state begins in compulsion; but the habits of obedience become the content of conscience, and soon every citizen thrills with loyalty to the flag. The citizen is right; for however the state begins, it soon becomes an indispensable prop to order.

Our obligations to our country never cease but with our lives. - John Adams