There's just something about the 4th of July that makes me stop and take a moment to truly reflect on the incredible independence this country has afforded its citizens. I'm definitely guilty of taking all the rights and privileges I have for granted, but nothing reminds me of the battles fought to gain a diverse range of freedoms than celebrating Independence Day. This holiday is about more than backyard barbecues, fireworks, and a day off of work, although those are all great, too. But if you're looking for something a little more meaningful, consider some inspirational 4th of July quotes to get you in an independent state of mind.
It seems like now, more than ever, there's such an indescribable value placed in equality, freedom, and justice in America. The importance of the hard-won victories in civil rights, gender equality, and the LGBT community all culminate into an overwhelming sense of pride in our country's ability to bring about change, fight for progress, and succeed when everyone finds the resolve to work together.
If you turn on the news, check your phone, or scroll through your news feed, it can be easy to get a little down in the dumps about the current state of things. But if you want to turn your day around and get in the patriotic spirit, check out these inspirational 4th of July quotes.
1“In the face of impossible odds, people who love this country can change it.” — President Barack Obama
2"Liberty is the breath of life to nations." — George Bernard Shaw
3"May the sun in his course visit no land more free, more happy, more lovely, than this our own country!" — Daniel Webster
4“I believe in America because we have great dreams, and because we have the opportunity to make those dreams come true.” — Wendell L. Wilkie
5“You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4th, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.” — Erma Bombeck
6"Freedom is never given; it is won." — A. Philip Randolph
7 “I am an American; free born and free bred, where I acknowledge no man as my superior, except for his own worth, or as my inferior, except for his own demerit.” — Theodore Roosevelt
8“If you take advantage of everything that America has to offer, there’s nothing you can’t accomplish.” — Geraldine Ferraro
9"Then join hand in hand, brave Americans all! By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall." — John Dickinson
10"Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better." — Albert Camus
11“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
12“America is another name for opportunity. Our whole history appears like a last effort of divine providence on behalf of the human race.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
13“What is the essence of America? Finding and maintaining that perfect, delicate balance between freedom ‘to’ and freedom ‘from’.” — Marilyn vos Savant
14“You can’t separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.” — Malcolm X
15“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
16“Freedom is never dear at any price. It is the breath of life. What would a man not pay for living?” — Mahatma Gandhi
17“There is no such thing as a little freedom. Either you are all free or you are not free.” — Walter Cronkite
18“The American, by nature, is optimistic. He is experimental, an inventor and a builder who builds best when called upon to build greatly.” — John F. Kennedy
19"Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself." — Martin Luther King, Jr.
20"How often we fail to realize our good fortune in living in a country where happiness is more than a lack of tragedy." — Paul Sweeney
21“What light is to the eyes, what air is to the lungs, what love is to the heart—liberty is to the soul of man.” — Robert Green Ingersoll
