People across the United States will be attending parades, firing up the grill, and watching fireworks to celebrate Independence Day on today — and throughout the weekend. While food, family, friends and fun should be a part of every celebration, during this time, and on this day, we should reflect on our hard-won freedoms. And especially with current circumstances feel blessed for what we have, and strive to provide the same freedoms for others. There has always been a fight for freedom, it is not easily achieved, requires constant upkeep and maintenance, and the dedication of a lifetime.
To get into the spirit to celebrate America’s birthday, here are 25 quotes about Independence Day from notable figures compiled by Goodreads, Shutterfly, Quote Garden, Country Living, and others:
1. “The Fourth of July should be celebrated with big hearts.” – Camila Alves
2. “No other date on the calendar more potently symbolizes all that our nation stands for than the Fourth of July.” – Mac Thornberry
3. “From every mountainside. Let Freedom ring.” ― Samuel F. Smith
4. “The birthplace of anarchy is the cemetery of freedom.” ― Craig D. Lounsbrough
5. “America is a tune. It must be sung together.” – Gerald Stanley Lee
6. “America means opportunity, freedom, power.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
7. “The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.” – Alexis de Tocqueville
8. “It’s Fourth of July weekend, or, as I call it, Exploding Christmas.” -Stephen Colbert
9. “This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.” – Elmer Davis
10. “The American flag is the symbol of our freedom, national pride and history.” – Mike Fitzpatrick
11. “We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it.” – William Faulkner
12. “I believe in America because we have great dreams, and because we have the opportunity to make those dreams come true.” – Wendell L. Wilkie
13. “Those who won our independence believed liberty to be the secret of happiness and courage to be the secret of liberty.” – Louis D. Brandeis
14. “Liberty is the breath of life to nations.” – George Bernard Shaw
15. “It is the love of country that has lighted and that keeps glowing the holy fire of patriotism.” – J. Horace McFarland
16. “The United States is the only country with a known birthday.” -James G. Blaine
17. “Patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.” – Adlai Stevenson
18. “We’re blessed with the opportunity to stand for something—for liberty and freedom and fairness. And these are things worth fighting for, worth devoting our lives to.” – Ronald Reagan
19. “America without her soldiers would be like God without his angels.” – Claudia Pemberton
20. “In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved.” Franklin D. Roosevelt
21. “May the sun in his course visit no land more free, more happy, more lovely than this our own country!” – Daniel Webster
22. “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” – John F. Kennedy
23. “America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination, and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.” – Harry S. Truman
24. “One flag, one land, one heart, one hand, one nation evermore!” – Oliver Wendell Holmes
25. “I love my freedom. I love my America.” – Jessi Lane Adams