Top 100 Quotes About American Opportunity
#1. If you think the President was right to open the doors of American opportunity to young immigrants brought here as children who want to go to college or serve in the military, you should vote for Barack Obama.
William J. Clinton
#2. I got my degree. More importantly, I got a key to American opportunity. That's who we are - a nation that rewards ambition with opportunity. Where hard work can lead to success, no matter where you start.
Eva Longoria
#3. [Louis] Brandeis, like [Tomas] Jefferson, is an equal opportunity critic of bigness. And he, like Jefferson, sees American history as this incredible clash between small producers, farmers, and small business people on the one hand, and wicked oligarchs and financiers and monopolists on the other.
Jeffrey Rosen
#4. At the time, the only options were playing the local county fair. Now with American Idol and younger recording artists that have come out, there is more of an opportunity.
Marla Sokoloff
#5. With five chances on each hand and one unwavering aim, no boy, however poor, need despair. There is bread and success for every youth under the American flag who has energy and ability to seize his opportunity.
Orison Swett Marden
#6. Chicago is the Great American City, and it was really great to live there during a time of economic expansion and opportunity and growth. I felt like I was living at the center of the world. Unlike New York, no one expects you to be a professional writer.
John Green
#7. Our workforce and our entire economy are strongest when we embrace diversity to its fullest, and that means opening doors of opportunity to everyone and recognizing that the American Dream excludes no one.
Thomas Perez
#8. Since much of American taxes prior to 1763 went to support the local clergy, one humorist suggested the opportunity to vote on that. If the minister was turned out, he could open a tavern and preach to his customers if he served them liquor.
Colin G. Calloway
#9. I'm an American. We've translated democracy and brotherhood and equality into enterprise and opportunity and success - and that's getting Americanised.
Susan Glaspell
#10. If our nation is to rebuild opportunity for future generations, it will require our elected leaders to realize that their responsibility lies not with their political party, but rather with the American people that they have been chosen to represent.
Ami Bera
#11. The promise of the American Dream requires that we are all provided an equal opportunity to participate in and contribute to our nation.
Charles B. Rangel
#12. 'The Price Is Right,' it was an honor to be offered it because it's such an American institution. To be able to carry on this tradition with a show that has been on for so long, I thought it was a great opportunity for me.
Drew Carey
#13. Immigrants have always come into the country with low levels of education. Whether it's the Irish or Italian or Polish, here is the land of opportunity. It's where people come in at the bottom and build themselves up. To try to bring in people who have already made it is un-American.
Lionel Sosa
#14. The English Language Amendment says above all, 'Let's see to it that our children, our young people, learn English. Let us not deny them the opportunity to participate in American life, so that they can go as far as their dreams and talents can take them.
S.I. Hayakawa
#15. This remains a very important opportunity for the American people to have their day in court against big tobacco and its marketing practices. I urge Congress to provide the funding to allow the lawsuit to move forward, and not to shield the tobacco industry from the consequences of its actions.
William J. Clinton
#16. What is the American dream? The American dream is one big tent. One big tent. And on that big tent you have four basic promises: equal protection under the law, equal opportunity, equal access, and fair share.
Jesse Jackson
#17. The erosion of equal opportunity is among the greatest threats to our exceptionalism as a nation. But it also provides us with an exciting and historic opportunity: to help more people than ever achieve the American Dream.
Marco Rubio
#18. Since taking office, President Obama has worked to restore a positive vision of American leadership in the world - leadership defined, not by the threats and dangers that we will oppose, but by the security, opportunity and dignity that America advances in partnership with people around the world.
John O. Brennan
#19. I want to make sure that the American worker has an opportunity to see their wages rise and their incomes increase.
Rick Santorum
#20. Of course, preserving the American dream has always meant creating opportunity for the most recently arrived Americans - those who have come here from other parts of the globe to work hard and build a new, better life.
Nydia Velazquez
#21. Louis Brandeis never had the opportunity - or he never sought the opportunity I should say - to work closely with African American lawyers. He was also a Southern Democrat, you know, at a time when both parties were supportive of segregation.
Jeffrey Rosen
#22. The American free market system is the greatest engine for prosperity and opportunity that the world has ever seen. Freedom works.
Ted Cruz
#23. How about we agree upon what our common American values are, which is let's make this a true land of opportunity.
Laurene Powell Jobs
#24. Democrats believe in reigniting the American dream by removing barriers to success and building ladders of opportunity for all, so everyone can succeed.
Nancy Pelosi
#25. I am now a fundamentalist American; give me time and I will tell you why individualism, laissez-faire and the slightly restrained anarchy of capitalism offer the best opportunities for the development of the human spirit.
Rose Wilder Lane
#26. I believe that President Obama is here for a reason, but that doesn't mean that he has to stay there next year. The American people have an opportunity to have a say and so I think we just have to do what we think is right - and see what the outcome is. God's got a plan.
Vicky Hartzler
#27. The shift in American society from admiring Christians to fearing and criticizing them provides an opportunity for self-reflection. How have we been presenting the message we believe in? Might there be a more grace-filled way?
Philip Yancey
#28. I'm certainly proud to be Cuban American, and it's a fantastic opportunity for anybody - regardless of their ethnicity or nationality. It does carry a measure or pride to know where you're from and to know what your roots are.
Danny Pino
#29. I think there's more of opportunity to win games in the National League than the American League because there are more decisions to make.
Joe Torre
#30. I am convinced that the majority of American people do understand that we have a moral responsibility to foster the concepts of opportunity, free enterprise, the rule of law, and democracy. They understand that these values are the hope of the world.
Richard Lugar
#31. I am proud of my heritage and have happily taken advantage of every opportunity to educate my teammates and Steeler Nation about American Samoa, both as a player and in the community, through the Troy and Theodora Polamalu Foundation Fund of The Pittsburgh Foundation.
Troy Polamalu
#32. I have committed my life to helping the poor, and I believe that if more companies followed Wal-Mart's lead in providing opportunity and savings to those who need it most, more Americans battling poverty would realize the American dream.
Andrew Young
#33. The paradox of American democracy has been that its slogan of equal opportunity has meant, often, equal opportunity to get power over your fellows.
Mary Parker Follett
#34. The Olympics are coming ... and it's a big problem in American politics, because the problem with holding the Olympics this fall is that we're all going to be focused on the Olympics, and it makes that window of opportunity for Gore to win the election that much smaller.
Susan Estrich
#35. Winning 'American Idol' gives the opportunity to really help make a change to a lot of lives, and making a difference has given me the greatest satisfaction and joy.
Taylor Hicks
#36. The messages a woman receives from modern North American culture are contradictory; she needs a job for fulfillment but should be home with her children; she is more than her looks, but she had better wear makeup and stay thin; she has every opportunity men have but only on men's terms.
Janell L. Carroll
#37. High school dropouts are forfeiting their opportunity to pursue the American Dream.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
#38. Effort should be made to see that the forum-type programs (the 'Today Show,' 'Meet the Press,' etc.) afford at least as much opportunity for supporters of the American system to participate as these programs do for those who attack it.
Lewis F. Powell Jr.
#39. We need a new Latin American policy that is bold - different. We need to focus on building civil society, focus on the lack of infrastructure. We need look at ways to foster economic opportunity. There needs to be a more comprehensive economic vision in the region.
Mel Martinez
#40. We believe in individual initiative, personal responsibility, opportunity, freedom, small government, the Constitution. These principles, these American principles are key to getting our economy back to being successful and leading the world.
Mitt Romney
#41. By balancing the needs of families and employers, and by extending a safe haven to those fleeing persecution, our immigration policy serves its historic purpose. Freedom and opportunity is the cornerstone of American society, and immigrants continue to embody that freedom.
Spencer Abraham
#42. When 'American Pie' happened, I was so lucky to get that opportunity and I just tried to do a good job in that genre. But the films that inspired me as a kid were, like, Malcolm McDowall in 'A Clockwork Orange.' He was my hero.
Seann William Scott
#43. My parents are proud of their Indian heritage, but they came halfway across the world so their children could be born here, raised here as Americans. They came legally, but they came here in search of the American dream, in search of freedom and opportunity.
Bobby Jindal
#44. We must give Oklahoma families the opportunity to thrive and prosper. We must give all Oklahomans the tools necessary to pursue the American dream. And then, we must get out of the way.
Brad Henry
#45. To be free ... to walk the good American earth as equal citizens, to live without fear, to enjoy the fruits of our toil, to give our children every opportunity in life
that dream which we have held so long in our hearts is today the destiny that we hold in our hands.
Paul Robeson
#46. When an American declares bankruptcy, when he hits bottom, he can reinvent himself. There's a story he can tell. We tolerate reinvention. We encourage reinvention. That's what this country has that Europe does not. It's not just a crisis; it's an opportunity.
Michael Lewis
#47. Throughout the world, our insistence on individual freedom and opportunity has been at the bottom of what people think when they hear the very word 'American.'
Jim Webb
#48. 'The Firebird' just symbolizes a lot for me and my career. It was one of the first really big principal roles that I was ever given an opportunity to dance with American Ballet Theatre, and it was a huge step for the African-American community, I think, within the classical ballet world.
Misty Copeland
#50. American foreign policy and military might have opened an opportunity for the Gospel in the land of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Charles Stanley
#51. There is an opportunity to consolidate the North American region as a more competitive region, a more productive region that will be more competitive than other blocs that have integrated in the rest of the world.
Enrique Pena Nieto
#52. I believe that it is my job to fight for the rights of others to have the same rights that I take for granted. As a white, American male, I have had it quite good. I recognize that and fight every day for everyone to have the same opportunities that I have had.
Michael Skolnik
#53. They think America is like a major league in entertainment. For me personally being here for the past year-and-a-half, I know some of the arguments and discrepancies African American actors have with the opportunities here.
Aml Ameen
#54. The President today once again took the opportunity to reiterate his old, failed national security strategies and present them to the American people as new, dynamic ideas intended to better protect the American people.
Ellen Tauscher
#55. To the European immigrant - that is, to the aliens who have been converted into Americans by the advantages of American life - the Promise of America has consisted largely in the opportunity which it offered of economic independence and prosperity.
Herbert Croly
#56. I'll never understand how destroying families through deportation benefits our society. How we treat the undocumented says a great deal about us as a people and whether or not we'll continue to fulfill the fundamental American promise of equality and opportunity for all.
Conor Oberst
#57. There is a tendency of the American people to give those who are elected an opportunity to carry out their policies and programs.
John Dingell
#58. Each time a barrier falls for one person, the doors of opportunity open wider for every other American.
Jesse Jackson
#59. This American system of ours,call it Americanism,call it capitalism,call it what you will,gives each and every one of us a great opportunity if we seize it with both hands and make the most of it.
Al Capone
#60. English is the key to full participation in the opportunities of American life.
S.I. Hayakawa
#61. That's part of American greatness, is discrimination. Yes, sir. Inequality, I think, breeds freedom and gives a man opportunity.
Lester Maddox
#62. Some of the American whites, moreover, are just as far behind in this respect as are the Negroes who have had less opportunity to learn better.
Carter G. Woodson
#63. Economic growth is necessary to keep the promise - enormously important to individual Americans - that each generation will have the opportunity to become more prosperous than the preceding one, the popular term for which is 'the American dream.'
Michael Mandelbaum
#64. Asian Pacific American Heritage Month provides us all an opportunity to reflect upon this community's many contributions and to celebrate its bright future.
Nydia Velazquez
#65. The Boston bombing provided the opportunity for the government to turn what should have been a police investigation into a military-style occupation of an American city. This unprecedented move should frighten us as much or more than the attack itself.
Ron Paul
#66. We think there's a huge opportunity in smaller vehicles. Smaller vehicles done in an American way.
Freeman Thomas
#67. I was not seduced by the celebrity side of acting. However, as a British girl watching a lot of American TV, I saw that there was a whole world of opportunity in the States that I wanted to discover.
Carmen Ejogo
#68. The American dream, to me, means having the opportunity to achieve, because I don't think you should be guaranteed anything other than opportunity.
Lenny Wilkens
#69. I'm passionate about restoring the efficacy of American democracy, making capitalism sustainable, prioritizing advances in technology, and seizing the opportunities to use that kind of innovation to help usher in a new economy that doesn't rely on carbon-spewing fossil fuels.
Al Gore
#70. It is an honor to open in New York City and to have the opportunity to serve and share our family's version of American Chinese food and hospitality. New York City deeply influenced my passion for food and service, and it feels good to be back.
Andrew Cherng
#71. What does it mean to be an American? While each of us may have our own specific answer to that question, we likely can agree on the basic principles of America: freedom, equal opportunity, and rights accompanied by responsibilities.
Ben Nelson
#72. The same tools we need to use to keep this country safe by bringing terrorists to justice, because I guarantee you, if they have the opportunity and the means, they will take American lives.
Todd Tiahrt
#73. That does not mean we won't experience the tragedy of the loss of some American lives. We will have an opportunity to instill a democracy in Iraq which will be an example and perhaps force other nations in that region to move in the same direction.
John McCain
#74. With all her heart, Mom believed in opportunity for everyone and privilege for no one. She put her children first, and her faith and trust in the American dream.
Ralph Webster
#75. Here at home, when Americans were standing in long lines to give blood after the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, we squandered an obvious opportunity to make service a noble cause again, and rekindle an American spirit of community.
Joe Biden
#76. If you listen closely to the voices of our veterans, you understand that yes, they all returned from war changed, but what never changed is this: They never forgot your generosity. They never forgot the power of opportunity. They never forgot the American dream.
Michael Mullen
#77. American businessmen have taken advantage of the opportunities which existed in Europe and Europeans seem not to have been aware of.
Emilio Pucci
#78. Introduction, the opportunity to write the book came while I was in law school, the result of my election as the first African-American president of the Harvard
Barack Obama
#79. I have been privileged to have the opportunity to work with many of African American fraternal and social organizations that are active in my congressional district. They all do important work that makes a tangible difference to the quality of life in our community.
Chris Van Hollen
#80. I let the American people down, and I have to carry that burden for the rest of my life. My political life is over. I will never again have an opportunity to serve in any official position. Maybe I can give a little advice from time to time.
Richard M. Nixon
#81. He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of Opportunity closed roughly in his face.
W.E.B. Du Bois
#82. One of the most memorable live performances of my career took place on the 2002 American Music Awards show when I had to the opportunity to sing with Elton John. I was moved by the way he played the piano onstage.
Tim McGraw
#83. I hope I'll have the opportunity to debate how we reform and update our immigration system. I will relate my own story and that of the countless immigrants whose American Dream stories have helped build our country into the greatest nation in the world.
Ami Bera
#84. When I left 'American Morning' in 2007, I'd focused on doing documentaries. But I thought 'Starting Point' was a great opportunity to be involved in the zeitgeist.
Soledad O'Brien
#85. The American dream is more about opportunity than anything else.
Nate Parker
#86. God has blessed me with the opportunity to be an American son.
Marco Rubio
#87. Movies give me an opportunity to go places. I'm not only a Swede but an American, not just a man of my time, but I've been living 2,000 years ago-and not just in a new country, America, but in the Holy Land, too.
Max Von Sydow
#88. It's so great to have that opportunity with so many young American players coming up now. It's just so exciting. We have to root for the home country.
Serena Williams
#89. The American people and the Israeli peoples share a faith in the future and believe that democracies can shape their own destinies and that opportunities should be available to all. Throughout its own extraordinary history, Israel has given life to that promise.
Barack Obama
#90. I'm one of the few Black writers, or African American writers, who managed to work my way through the system so that it has allowed me to speak in a kind of free way. But most African American writers don't have that. They don't have that opportunity, they don't have that.
James McBride
#91. For so-called conscious rappers, it is an opportunity to rap about ways to educate others about African American history, politics and even relationships: all of which would be missed if society merely focused on the "hook" and ignored the influence.
Carlos Wallace
#92. Detroit is a metaphor for America, for America's challenges and America's opportunities. It is a hothouse for new innovation, for ingenuity and risk taking. That doesn't happen in a lot of American cities. We need to be in Detroit because of that.
Darren Walker
#93. Our individualism is rooted in our very nature. It is based on conviction born of experience. Equal opportunity, the demand for a fair chance, became the formula of American Individualism because it is the method of American achievement.
Herbert Hoover
#94. The American dream is at jeopardy. This president [Obama] has defined the American dream as more dependence on the government. We need to restore the American dream so it's more about opportunity and growth and not redistribution.
Bobby Jindal
#95. When I was in the 9th grade I was flunking out of high school. And that's why I'm so encouraged by the fact that America is the place where opportunity and American exceptionalism is alive and well.
Tim Scott
#96. Take away wilderness and you take away the opportunity to be American.
Roderick Nash
#97. That is the American experiment. An ethnic group arriving on America's shores, to be reviled and hazed, living in squalor, or if they are lucky Squalor Heights, working hard to give their children or grandchildren the opportunity to sh*t on the next group landing on our shores.
Jon Stewart
#98. My visit to the United States has also given me the opportunity to emphasize the objective of establishing close and intensive links between the Turkish and American peoples, scholars and businessmen.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
#99. I ended Affirmative Action by executive order and replaced it with a leadership model that created more opportunities for African-American and Hispanic students.
Jeb Bush
#100. A college degree is the key to realizing the American dream, well worth the financial sacrifice because it is supposed to open the door to a world of opportunity.
Dan Rather
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