--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What would you call America's most…" description: "\"What would you call America's most priceless asset? Surely not its limitless natural resources, not its matchless national wealth, not its unequalled s..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ff/b-c-forbes-2124_america_what-would-you-call-america-s-most-price_811699.jpg" --- # What would you call America's most priceless asset? Surely… ![“What would you call America's most priceless asset? Surely not its limitless natural resources, not its matchless national wealth, not its unequalled store of gold, not its giant factories, not its surpassing railroads, not its unprecedented volume of cheap power. Is not its most priceless asset…” quote by B. C. Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ff/b-c-forbes-2124_america_what-would-you-call-america-s-most-price_811699.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ff/b-c-forbes-2124_america_what-would-you-call-america-s-most-price_811699.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ff/b-c-forbes-2124_america_what-would-you-call-america-s-most-price_811699.jpg) > “What would you call America's most priceless asset? Surely not its limitless natural resources, not its matchless national wealth, not its unequalled store of gold, not its giant factories, not its surpassing railroads, not its unprecedented volume of cheap power. Is not its most priceless asset the character of its people, their indomitable self-confidence, their transcendent vision, their sleepless initiative and, perhaps above all, their inherent, irrepressible optimism?” [B. C. Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-forbes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A nation's greatest strength lies not in material wealth but in the character, optimism, and initiative of its people. **In simple terms:** People's spirit is a nation's true wealth. Key Takeaway Foster optimism and initiative. Themes national character optimism initiative human capital Mood inspirational hopeful Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - education reform - community projects - leadership training - public morale campaigns Key Concepts cultural values collective mindset Questions to Reflect On - How can societies sustain optimism? - What policies nurture collective confidence? A Different Perspective Optimism can be fragile in crises. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Gold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gold/) [Initiative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/initiative/) [Limitless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/limitless/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [Natural resources](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural-resources/) [Optimism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/optimism/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Railroads](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/railroads/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self confidence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-confidence/) [Transcendent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transcendent/) [Vision](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vision/) [Wealth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wealth/) ## Related quotes > [Let us remember that our national unity is a most priceless asset.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-r-ford/let-us-remember-that-our-national-unity-is-a-most-priceless-asset/) [Gerald R. Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-r-ford/) > [The irrepressible conflict propounded by abolitionism has produced now its legitimate fruits - disunion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-irrepressible-conflict-propounded-by-abolitionism-has-produced/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The chief reason warfare is still with us is neither a secret death-wish of the human species, nor an irrepressible instinct of aggression, nor,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/the-chief-reason-warfare-is-still-with-us-is-neither-a-secret-death/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [What has not been clear is that the potential of this emergency-born technology has always accrued to human's prewar individual initiatives taken in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/what-has-not-been-clear-is-that-the-potential-of-this-emergency-born/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) > [Irrepressible curiosity vied with an instinctive fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/irrepressible-curiosity-vied-with-an-instinctive-fear/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [I would have been completely brainwashed by this lopsided and racist view of the world if it weren't for my father. He was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-mosley/i-would-have-been-completely-brainwashed-by-this-lopsided-and-racist/) [Walter Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-mosley/) > [Slowly he took out the clothes in which, ten years beforem Cosette had left Montfermeil; first the little dress, then the black scarf, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/slowly-he-took-out-the-clothes-in-which-ten-years-beforem-cosette-had/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [It is the omnipresent rush of water which give the Este Gardens their peculiar character. From the Anio, drawn up the hillside at incalculable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/it-is-the-omnipresent-rush-of-water-which-give-the-este-gardens-their/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [There are some things in life that aren't meant to be controlled, and there are some things in life that simply cannot be controlled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-are-some-things-in-life-that-aren-t-meant-to-be-controlled-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Because I'm moved in writing to be irrepressible. Writing to you seems like some holy cause, cause there's not enough female irrepressibility written down.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/because-i-m-moved-in-writing-to-be-irrepressible-writing-to-you-seems/) [Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) > [At last, after almost fifty years in the hopper, the most famous unpublished novel in America is in print. Who Shot the Water Buffalo?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-mcclanahan/at-last-after-almost-fifty-years-in-the-hopper-the-most-famous/) Ed McClanahan > [Imagination...is the irrepressible revolutionist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/imagination-is-the-irrepressible-revolutionist/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [A classic is classic not because it conforms to certain structural rules, or fits certain definitions (of which its author had quite probably never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/a-classic-is-classic-not-because-it-conforms-to-certain-structural/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [It has always been cited as an irrepressible symptom of America's vitality that her people, in fair times and foul, believe in themselves and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alistair-cooke/it-has-always-been-cited-as-an-irrepressible-symptom-of-america-s/) [Alistair Cooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alistair-cooke/) > [Be a dynamo of irrepressible joy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haidakhan-babaji/be-a-dynamo-of-irrepressible-joy/) Haidakhan Babaji ## More by B. C. Forbes > [Our future and our fate lie in our wills more than in our hands, for our hands are but the instruments of our wills.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-forbes/our-future-and-our-fate-lie-in-our-wills-more-than-in-our-hands-for/) [B. C. Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-forbes/) > [What one thing does the world need most today-apart, that is, from the all-inclusive thing we call righteousness? Aren't you inclined to agree that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-forbes/what-one-thing-does-the-world-need-most-today-apart-that-is-from-the/) [B. C. Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-forbes/) > [Are soft-hearted people handicapped in business? You have heard a businessman say of someone else, He's all right, but he's too soft-hearted… To be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-forbes/are-soft-hearted-people-handicapped-in-business-you-have-heard-a/) [B. C. Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-forbes/) > [Search and you will find that at the base and birth of every great business organization was an enthusiast, man consumed with earnestness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-forbes/search-and-you-will-find-that-at-the-base-and-birth-of-every-great/) [B. C. Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-forbes/) > [A big business man was telling Henry Ford about a coach driver of super-expertness with his whip. The driver was telling how he could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-forbes/a-big-business-man-was-telling-henry-ford-about-a-coach-driver-of/) [B. C. Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-forbes/) > [Better to be occasionally cheated than perpetually suspicious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-forbes/better-to-be-occasionally-cheated-than-perpetually-suspicious/) [B. C. Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-forbes/) > [Honesty pays dividends both in dollars and in peace of mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-forbes/honesty-pays-dividends-both-in-dollars-and-in-peace-of-mind/) [B. C. Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-forbes/) > [Timing is everything. Tell me how a young man spends his evenings and I will tell you how far he is likely to go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-forbes/timing-is-everything-tell-me-how-a-young-man-spends-his-evenings-and/) [B. C. Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-forbes/) > [To succeed, we must have the will to succeed, we must have stamina, determination, backbone, perseverance, self-reliance, and faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-forbes/to-succeed-we-must-have-the-will-to-succeed-we-must-have-stamina/) [B. C. Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-forbes/) > [There are two brands of discontent: the brand that merely fosters greed and snarling and back-biting, and the brand that inspires greater and greater…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-forbes/there-are-two-brands-of-discontent-the-brand-that-merely-fosters/) [B. C. Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-forbes/) > [Which class is happiest, the rich, the middle class or the poor? A very successful executive of a large organization touches upon this vital…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-forbes/which-class-is-happiest-the-rich-the-middle-class-or-the-poor-a-very/) [B. C. Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-forbes/) > [Are your desires purely selfish? Do your tastes run to a grand home, automobiles, fine clothes, an abundance of amusements, and so forth? If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-forbes/are-your-desires-purely-selfish-do-your-tastes-run-to-a-grand-home/) [B. C. Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-forbes/) > [When you delve deep enough, you find that practically every great fortune and great enterprise in America have sprung from the courageous enterprise of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-forbes/when-you-delve-deep-enough-you-find-that-practically-every-great/) [B. C. Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-forbes/) > [It can be set down as a broad, general principle that we cannot indulge in idleness and abundance during both the first and second…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-forbes/it-can-be-set-down-as-a-broad-general-principle-that-we-cannot/) [B. C. Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-forbes/) > [The Christmas spirit brings home to us-or should bring home to us-the profound Biblical truth that it is more blessed to give than to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-forbes/the-christmas-spirit-brings-home-to-us-or-should-bring-home-to-us-the/) [B. C. Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-forbes/) [Explore all 184 B. C. Forbes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-forbes/) ## More America quotes > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... I don't if anybody knows what it is but it was about... in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-guest/well-the-day-the-earth-caught-fire-was-a-story-i-don-t-if-anybody/) [Val Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-guest/) > [So here's what I want you to know, and here's what I want all our men and women in uniform to know: Because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/so-here-s-what-i-want-you-to-know-and-here-s-what-i-want-all-our-men/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Today, the world looks to America for leadership. And America looks to its Corps of Marines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/today-the-world-looks-to-america-for-leadership-and-america-looks-to/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [The image of blacks usually is one of people who are suffering from hunger, unemployment, and poverty. The idea of them as agents and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/the-image-of-blacks-usually-is-one-of-people-who-are-suffering-from/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [ I'll smoke, I'll cough, I'll get the tumors, I'll die, deal? Thank you America. \[salutes\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/i-ll-smoke-i-ll-cough-i-ll-get-the-tumors-i-ll-die-deal-thank-you/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [America is a democracy and has no Hitler, but I am afraid for her future; there are hard times ahead for the American people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/america-is-a-democracy-and-has-no-hitler-but-i-am-afraid-for-her/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [I'm gonna bring America together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/i-m-gonna-bring-america-together/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [We need a system that serves our needs, not the needs of others. Remember, under a Trump administration it's called America first. Remember that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/we-need-a-system-that-serves-our-needs-not-the-needs-of-others/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [America, you're sending girls a mixed message. On one hand, you're saying to have positive body image and love who we are; on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adora-svitak/america-you-re-sending-girls-a-mixed-message-on-one-hand-you-re/) [Adora Svitak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adora-svitak/) > [You live overseas, you see these exotic places and you want to know about them. But, weirdly, it also made me homesick for all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-jennings/you-live-overseas-you-see-these-exotic-places-and-you-want-to-know/) [Ken Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-jennings/) > [Freedom in every sense but primarily political sense, a rise in repression that stems from a repression of sexuality. It's AIDS, it's herpes, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-nicholson/freedom-in-every-sense-but-primarily-political-sense-a-rise-in/) [Jack Nicholson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-nicholson/) > [“In American terms, the accomplishment of Genghis Khan might be understood if the United States, instead of being created by a group of educated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-weatherford/in-american-terms-the-accomplishment-of-genghis-khan-might-be/) [Jack Weatherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-weatherford/) [Browse all 20,382 America quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What would you call America's most priceless asset? Surely not its limitless natural resources, not its matchless national wealth, not its unequalled store of gold, not its giant factories, not its surpassing railroads, not its unprecedented volume of cheap power. 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