--- title: "9 American Means Quotes by 8 authors" description: "Browse 9 American Means quotes by 8 authors. Discover the best American Means sayings and thoughts." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e8/lawrence-o-donnell-1701_american_being-american-means-you-never-have-to-s_3232066.jpg" --- > [Being American means you never have to say you surrender.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-o-donnell/being-american-means-you-never-have-to-say-you-surrender/) [Lawrence O'Donnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-o-donnell/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e8/lawrence-o-donnell-1701_american_being-american-means-you-never-have-to-s_3232066.jpg) > [In this country American means white. Everybody else has to hyphenate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/in-this-country-american-means-white-everybody-else-has-to-hyphenate/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d1a/toni-morrison-271_american_in-this-country-american-means-white-eve_3202747.jpg) > [“The idea of preventive medicine is faintly un-American. It means, first, recognizing that the enemy is us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/1975-chicago-tribune/the-idea-of-preventive-medicine-is-faintly-un-american-it-means-first/) [1975 Chicago Tribune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/1975-chicago-tribune/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1c/chicago-tribune-1975-147670_medicine_the-idea-of-preventive-medicine-is-faint_1485048.jpg) > [Being an American means never having to say you're sorry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-an-american-means-never-having-to-say-you-re-sorry/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc9/anonymous-1_love_being-an-american-means-never-having-to_2032263.jpg) > [American means white, and Africanist people struggle to make the term applicable to themselves with ethnicity and hyphen after hyphen after hyphen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/american-means-white-and-africanist-people-struggle-to-make-the-term/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/198/toni-morrison-271_african-american_american-means-white-and-africanist-peop_2562527.jpg) > [Natural-born American means you don't have to be naturalized. You were born to an American mother, like President Obama, no matter where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-matthews/natural-born-american-means-you-don-t-have-to-be-naturalized-you-were/) [Chris Matthews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-matthews/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ee/chris-matthews-1682_born_natural-born-american-means-you-don-t-ha_25365.png) > [Look, if America - if being an American means anything, it means not having to lie under oath, not even for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-tripp/look-if-america-if-being-an-american-means-anything-it-means-not/) [Linda Tripp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-tripp/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/561/linda-tripp-37398_america_look-if-america-if-being-an-american-mea_468241.jpg) > [If you call yourself an American that means that you have embraced the constitution, because that is what an American is. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-ritter/if-you-call-yourself-an-american-that-means-that-you-have-embraced/) [Scott Ritter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-ritter/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff2/scott-ritter-13498_allegiance_if-you-call-yourself-an-american-that-me_349321.jpg) > [Americanization means the process of becoming an American. It means civic incorporation, becoming a part of the polity - becoming one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-jordan/americanization-means-the-process-of-becoming-an-american-it-means/) [Barbara Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-jordan/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e6c/barbara-jordan-7656_becoming_americanization-means-the-process-of-bec_1784504.jpg) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-means/#itemlist", "name": "American Means Quotes", "numberOfItems": 9, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Being American means you never have to say you surrender.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lawrence O'Donnell" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-o-donnell/being-american-means-you-never-have-to-say-you-surrender/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e8/lawrence-o-donnell-1701_american_being-american-means-you-never-have-to-s_3232066.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e8/lawrence-o-donnell-1701_american_being-american-means-you-never-have-to-s_3232066.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e8/lawrence-o-donnell-1701_american_being-american-means-you-never-have-to-s_3232066.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Being American means you never have to say you surrender.” — Lawrence O'Donnell", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In this country American means white. 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A citizen of the United States of America is someone who has sworn an oath of allegiance to that document, to the words, to the ideals of that document. Right now we have citizens who don't even understand what that document is.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Scott Ritter" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-ritter/if-you-call-yourself-an-american-that-means-that-you-have-embraced/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff2/scott-ritter-13498_allegiance_if-you-call-yourself-an-american-that-me_349321.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff2/scott-ritter-13498_allegiance_if-you-call-yourself-an-american-that-me_349321.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff2/scott-ritter-13498_allegiance_if-you-call-yourself-an-american-that-me_349321.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you call yourself an American that means that you have embraced the constitution, because that is what an…” — Scott Ritter", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 9, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Americanization means the process of becoming an American. It means civic incorporation, becoming a part of the polity - becoming one of us. But that does not mean conformity. We are more than a melting pot, we are a kaleidoscope, where every turn of history refracts new light on the old promise.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Barbara Jordan" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-jordan/americanization-means-the-process-of-becoming-an-american-it-means/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e6c/barbara-jordan-7656_becoming_americanization-means-the-process-of-bec_1784504.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e6c/barbara-jordan-7656_becoming_americanization-means-the-process-of-bec_1784504.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e6c/barbara-jordan-7656_becoming_americanization-means-the-process-of-bec_1784504.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Americanization means the process of becoming an American. 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