Common Quote by Lewis H. Lapham

To be an American is not...a matter of blood; it is a matter of an idea--and history is the image of that idea.

— Robert Penn Warren

To be an American (unlike being English or French or whatever) is precisely to imagine a destiny rather than to inherit one; since we…

— Leslie Fiedler

Being an American is an action; it's an ideal to strive for. It's being part of this constantly perfecting union that, with each generation,…

— Sarah McBride

You don't have to be an All-American. You just have to have character and courage, and I take that message very seriously.

— Rudy Ruettiger

For some people, the definition of who is and who isn't an American defies logic, historical accuracy, common sense, decency, good manners, the milk…

— W. Kamau Bell

Part of my mission as an actor has been to define what an American is.

— John Cho

Being an American is something we need to learn and understand.

— Eric Metaxas

America is an open society, more open than any other in the world. People of every race, of every color, of every culture are…

— S. I. Hayakawa

When I was a kid, my grandfather said that "if you say a word often enough, it becomes you." Thinking of that later in…

— Anna Deavere Smith

I want to say unequivocally that while I cherish every person who comes from anywhere, who comes here legally and seeks to pursue happiness,…

— Newt Gingrich

I like my subjects to be American, and not too dead, so I can interview people who knew them.

— A. Scott Berg

I wanted to be what my high-school civics and history teacher thought of as a good American. That automatically involved taking an interest in…

— Olivia De Havilland