“Patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.” ~Adlai Stevenson~

“You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.” ~Erma Bombeck~

“This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.” ~Elmer Davis~

“It is easy to take liberty for granted, when you have never had it taken from you.” ~Dick Cheney~

“I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him.” ~Abraham Lincoln~

from the White House
Independence Day, 2007
Two hundred thirty-one years ago, 56 brave men signed their names to a bold creed of freedom that set the course of our Nation and changed the history of the world. On this anniversary, we remember the great courage and conviction of our Founders, and we celebrate the enduring principles of our Declaration of Independence.

Through selfless sacrifice and unrelenting determination, the patriots of the American Revolution ensured that our Nation’s claim to liberty and equality would not be dismissed or forgotten. The ideals they fought for and the country they helped establish are lasting symbols of hope to the entire world.

Declaration of Independence
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.