Hubert Humphrey Quotes

That is what made America great: that everyone had the opportunity to be a winner. And I think it's still there. I'm certainly a beneficiary of it.

Obama is the splendid fruit of a meritocracy.

There is a fundamental notion at the core of American identity that, in this country, any little boy or girl can grow up to be president.

The beauty of a democracy is that you never can tell when a youngster is born what he is going to do with himself, and that no matter how humbly he is born, no matter where he is born, no matter what circumstances hamper him at the outset, he has got a chance to master the minds and lead the imaginations of the whole country.

We are an aspirational society. We believe that circumstances of your birth do not determine your outcome. You shouldn't have to be born to wealthy parents or the right zip code to be successful and do great things in our country!

You know, as Secretary of State, I've been privileged to represent this great country, and I know its strengths, and I know its challenges. One of its strengths is the belief - here and abroad - that this is a place where you get ahead on merit. It doesn't matter where you came from; it matters where you're going.

This is the place where anybody - like an African American kid raised by a single mom - can be president.

Now, as a nation, we don't promise equal outcomes, but we were founded on the idea everybody should have an equal opportunity to succeed. No matter who you are, what you look like, where you come from, you can make it. That's an essential promise of America. Where you start should not determine where you end up.

Mr. Lincoln's elevation shows that in America every station in life may be honorable; that there is no barrier against the humblest; but that merit, wherever it exists, has the opportunity to be known.

Even in its third century, America is still the most meritocratic nation in the world.

Everyone must have a shot at the American Dream.

The son of the coarsest man in the country, if he attends to his learning may become President.

Where else can a guy like me make it? Blind and poor---only in America.

I guess it proves that in America anyone can be President.

The American Dream is that any man or woman, despite of his or her background, can change their circumstances and rise as high as they are willing to work.

That's the spirit of America, right? Anybody from any background can make it anywhere with enough hard work.

If there is a national, secular religion in the United States, it is the belief that America is the Land of Opportunity, that we are a meritocracy, that any kid, no matter who they are, or where they come from, can work hard and move up in the world: that their effort matters.

They don't call it the Italian Dream or the English Dream. In America, there is the American Dream. It was the first place to give people of any social background their dream. You can achieve anything.

The American Dream means any person can achieve prosperity through hard work and ingenuity because there are no inherent barriers in our society.

This country is based on a simple bargain, and that bargain is if you work hard, you get to get ahead.

Everybody should have a chance to rise. That's our philosophy in Ohio and that's my philosophy for America.

I want to lead a nation where anyone who aims high can achieve their dreams.

No matter where you're born in life or what the circumstances are when you're born, like your parents being poor or not connected to power, you have a chance in this country to go as far as your talent and your work will take you.

This kind of gaping inequality gives lie to the promise that’s at the very heart of America: that this is a place where you can make it if you try. We tell people - we tell our kids - that in this country, even if you’re born with nothing, work hard and you can get into the middle class. We tell them that your children will have a chance to do even better than you do. That’s why immigrants from around the world historically have flocked to our shores.

The promise of our country is that the rules are fair. If you work hard and play by the rules, you can earn your share of America's blessings. Those are the beliefs I learned from my parents.