4th of July in 2016: Inspiring Quotes from U.S. Presidents and International Leaders for Your Independence Day Reflection
Politicians Share Their Uplifting Views that Are Equally Applicable to Daily Lives
Some people have become well-known for a reason. They have contributed so much to their nation; people could not ignore them. Be inspired through the uplifting views of these influential people who vied for liberty.
Also, these U.S. presidents have included perfectly in their speech on America's birthday the fervent desire of their forefathers to gain independence.
Abraham Lincoln, 16th U.S. President: "I would like to speak in all praise that is due to the many brave officers and soldiers who have fought in the cause of the Union and liberties of this country from the beginning of this war, not on occasions of success, but upon the more trying occasions of the want of success."
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John F. Kennedy, 35th U.S. President: "There are those struggling to eke out a bare existence in a barren land who have never heard of free enterprise, but who cherish the idea of independence. There are those who are grappling with overpowering problems of illiteracy and ill-health and who are ill-equipped to hold free elections. But they are determined to hold fast to their national independence."
Woodrow Wilson, 28th U.S. President: "I would not have you live even to-day wholly in the past, but would wish to stand with you in the light that streams upon us now out of that great day gone by. Here is the nation God has builded by our hands."
Franklin Roosevelt, 32nd U.S. President (Addressed During World War II in 1942): "To the weary, hungry, unequipped Army of the American Revolution, the Fourth of July was a tonic of hope and inspiration. So is it now. The tough, grim men who fight for freedom in this dark hour take heart in its message--the assurance of the right to liberty under God--for all peoples and races and groups and nations, everywhere in the world."
Ronald Reagan, 40th U.S. President: "It began in 1620 when a group of courageous families braved a mighty ocean to build a new future in a new world. They came not for material gain, but to secure liberty for their souls within a community bound by laws. A century-and-a-half later, their descendants pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to found this Nation. Some would forfeit their fortunes and their lives, but none sacrificed honor."
Theodore Roosevelt, 26th U.S. President: "No amount of talking of what had been done in the Revolution would have availed anything if you had not had it in you to add to these great memories by the deeds which were to make, in their turn, forever memorable the years between the firing of Fort Sumter and Appomattox. So we come here together on the Fourth of July to see what a great people we are; to see how well the generations of our dead have done their duty.
International Figures
Nelson Mandela, Former President of South Africa: "It always seems impossible until it's done."
Mahatma Gandhi, Civil rights leader: "It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err."
Anwar Sadat, third President of Egypt: "Great suffering has a silver-lining that we can be grateful for, because it builds up a human being and puts him or her within reach of self-knowledge."
Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese stateswoman: "The four basic ingredients for success are: you must have the will to want something; you must have the right kind of attitude; you must have perseverance, and then you must have wisdom. Then you combine these four and then you get to where you want to get to."
Winston Churchill, Former British Prime Minister: "Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb."
