Being Quote by Jane Smiley

We Finns represent a very transparent and open-minded way of reaching political decisions.

— Harri Holkeri

“I think of Baghdad years ago, when I met Professor Al-Rawi for the first time to discuss The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, his favorite…

— Michael Pitre

“As one observer noted, “In traveling across America, the Scots-Irish have consistently blown my mind as far and away the most persistent and unchanging…

— J.D. Vance

The Scots are very hospitable; almost as hospitable as the Americans.

— Quentin Crisp

Irish readers, British readers, American readers: is it odd that I haven't a clue about how differently they react? Or better say, I cannot…

— Seamus Heaney

“There's nothing more frightening to me than a character who thinks he knows what a real American is – mainly because it generally turns…

— Donald Hamilton

So far as regards their moral character, the Finns have as little cause for reproach as any other people.

— Bayard Taylor

“Jackson was an American. Though he’d never actually verbalized this information, his accent and dearth of civilized manners—as well as his lack of appreciation…

— Alex Mandon

One of the most important virtues of the American character is our ability to approach the complexities that life presents us with common sense…

— Dick Gephardt

“I told them this novel was an American classic, in many ways the quintessential American novel. There were other contenders: The Adventures of Huckleberry…

— Azar Nafisi

“Americans may say they love our accents (I have been accused of sounding 'like Princess Di') but the more thoughtful ones resent and rather…

— Peter Hitchens

Americans, unhappily, have the most remarkable ability to alchemize all bitter truths into an innocuous but piquant confection and to transform their moral contradictions,…

— James A. Baldwin