--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The American 'unum' has been lost since…" description: "\"The American 'unum' has been lost since the Sixties. If this continues, there will soon be no unifying American identity and vision to balance the 'plu..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f0/os-guinness-6581_american_the-american-unum-has-been-lost-since-th_2792157.png" --- # The American 'unum' has been lost since the Sixties. If… ![“The American 'unum' has been lost since the Sixties. If this continues, there will soon be no unifying American identity and vision to balance the 'pluribus,' and the days of the Republic will be numbered.” quote by Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f0/os-guinness-6581_american_the-american-unum-has-been-lost-since-th_2792157.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f0/os-guinness-6581_american_the-american-unum-has-been-lost-since-th_2792157.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f0/os-guinness-6581_american_the-american-unum-has-been-lost-since-th_2792157.png) > “The American 'unum' has been lost since the Sixties. If this continues, there will soon be no unifying American identity and vision to balance the 'pluribus,' and the days of the Republic will be numbered.” [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. America's unifying vision is eroding, risking the Republic's future. **In simple terms:** America may lose its shared purpose. Key Takeaway Preserve common values. Themes national identity unity politics Mood concerned hopeful Type political motivational When to use this quote - public policy - community building Key Concepts civic engagement cultural cohesion Questions to Reflect On - What can rebuild shared vision? - Is unity necessary for a republic? A Different Perspective The concept of a single identity may be unrealistic. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [American identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-identity/) [Balance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/balance/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) [Numbered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/numbered/) [Republic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/republic/) [Sixties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sixties/) [Vision](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vision/) ## Related quotes > [In Washington, the translation of E Pluribus Unum has been lost. The belief that we are one nation - united in purpose - caring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-m-kunin/in-washington-the-translation-of-e-pluribus-unum-has-been-lost-the/) [Madeleine M. Kunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-m-kunin/) > [Our friends in the group Chicago, they just numbered theirs and we thought that was kind of neat but it made continuity from album…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerry-beckley/our-friends-in-the-group-chicago-they-just-numbered-theirs-and-we/) [Gerry Beckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerry-beckley/) > [Maybe it's time to go back 2,000 years for a spiritual renaissance. If not, our days may be numbered and a terrible implosion is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-c-rosenberg/maybe-it-s-time-to-go-back-2-000-years-for-a-spiritual-renaissance-if/) [Joel C. Rosenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-c-rosenberg/) > [“What is crooked cannot be made straight, And what is lacking cannot be numbered.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-is-crooked-cannot-be-made-straight-and-what-is-lacking-cannot-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Our endless days are numbered.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-warren/our-endless-days-are-numbered/) [Frank Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-warren/) > [I do worry that the days of the physical paper are seriously numbered.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-quest/i-do-worry-that-the-days-of-the-physical-paper-are-seriously-numbered/) [Richard Quest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-quest/) > [I am writing a book. So far I have the pages numbered.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-wright/i-am-writing-a-book-so-far-i-have-the-pages-numbered/) [Steven Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-wright/) > [Why are our days numbered and not, say, lettered?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-allen/why-are-our-days-numbered-and-not-say-lettered/) [Woody Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-allen/) > [I've worked on all sorts of things, like the sci-fi stuff for Vin Diesel, where the script is numbered and is in unphotocopy-able colours…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colm-feore/i-ve-worked-on-all-sorts-of-things-like-the-sci-fi-stuff-for-vin/) [Colm Feore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colm-feore/) > [The holes are numbered.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-nicklaus/the-holes-are-numbered/) [Jack Nicklaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-nicklaus/) > [“Why do I go outside at one a.m. and search the stars as though I'd numbered them?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-white/why-do-i-go-outside-at-one-a-m-and-search-the-stars-as-though-i-d/) Gail White > [The days of our lives, for all of us, are numbered,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-edwards/the-days-of-our-lives-for-all-of-us-are-numbered/) [Elizabeth Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-edwards/) > [The birth of the Savior into mortality is an event of immeasurable significance that occurred almost 2,000 years ago. In much of the world,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-b-wirthlin/the-birth-of-the-savior-into-mortality-is-an-event-of-immeasurable/) [Joseph B. Wirthlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-b-wirthlin/) > [“If you, therefore, must be numbered among the great, you too must run for your life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/if-you-therefore-must-be-numbered-among-the-great-you-too-must-run/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [There is nothing we can do about the lynching now, as we are out-numbered and without arms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ida-b-wells/there-is-nothing-we-can-do-about-the-lynching-now-as-we-are-out/) [Ida B. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ida-b-wells/) ## More by Os Guinness > [Too often we forget that the great men of faith reached the heights they did only by going through the depths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/too-often-we-forget-that-the-great-men-of-faith-reached-the-heights/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [There are lots of people depending on the government who are good, honest citizens who have worked all their lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/there-are-lots-of-people-depending-on-the-government-who-are-good/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [American views today are weak, confused, and divided. On one side, many progressive liberals still think that we humans are essentially good and getting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/american-views-today-are-weak-confused-and-divided-on-one-side-many/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [What is undeniable is that when comforts and convenience sap our energies and idealism, inactivity secretes sloth in to our minds like a poison…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/what-is-undeniable-is-that-when-comforts-and-convenience-sap-our/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [Freedom is not the permission to do what you like. It's the power to do what you ought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/freedom-is-not-the-permission-to-do-what-you-like-it-s-the-power-to/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [“It is realistic rather than cynical to observe that in a fallen world there are degrees of virtue in relation to what is right,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/it-is-realistic-rather-than-cynical-to-observe-that-in-a-fallen-world/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [For the grand and inescapable tradition of western literary classics confronts us with fundamental choices over our understanding of words, reading and art, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/for-the-grand-and-inescapable-tradition-of-western-literary-classics/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [“The story is told of Socrates walking through the market in Athens, with its groaning abundance of options, and saying to himself, "Who would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/the-story-is-told-of-socrates-walking-through-the-market-in-athens/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [By our uncritical pursuit of relevance we have actually courted irrelevance; by our breathless chase after relevance without a matching committment to faithfulness, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/by-our-uncritical-pursuit-of-relevance-we-have-actually-courted/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [Evangelicalism can only remain evangelical if it is passionately serious about truth and theology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/evangelicalism-can-only-remain-evangelical-if-it-is-passionately/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [“Sometimes when I listen to people who say they have lost their faith, I am far less surprised than they expect. If their view…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/sometimes-when-i-listen-to-people-who-say-they-have-lost-their-faith/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [“Neither secular progress nor secular progressives have brought the West where they once promised. Nor can they.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/neither-secular-progress-nor-secular-progressives-have-brought-the/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [This is also why it is wrong to treat God as a grand employment agency, a celestial executive searcher to find perfect fits for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/this-is-also-why-it-is-wrong-to-treat-god-as-a-grand-employment/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [We human beings are never happier than when we are expressing the deepest gifts that are truly us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/we-human-beings-are-never-happier-than-when-we-are-expressing-the/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [Christ is the only way to God, but there are as many ways to Christ as there are people who come to Him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/christ-is-the-only-way-to-god-but-there-are-as-many-ways-to-christ-as/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) [Explore all 98 Os Guinness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) ## More American quotes > [I wasn't attracted to American cinema, but I fell in love with Los Angeles the minute I arrived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-varda/i-wasn-t-attracted-to-american-cinema-but-i-fell-in-love-with-los/) [Agnes Varda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-varda/) > [William Maxwell's my favorite North American writer, I think. 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The French…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/france-has-not-only-built-a-bureaucratic-barrier-against-american/) [Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/) > [New York and San Francisco are distinctly different. San Francisco is driving the American media, not New York. You have young, microwaved millionaires and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-whitlock/new-york-and-san-francisco-are-distinctly-different-san-francisco-is/) [Jason Whitlock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-whitlock/) > [Well look, CIA is an agency that has to collect intelligence, do operations. 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But it's just as important for the U.S. never to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-bauer/it-s-important-for-american-soldiers-to-be-culturally-sensitive-when/) [Gary Bauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-bauer/) Browse all 7,717 American quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The American 'unum' has been lost since the Sixties. 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