Looking for some inspiring words to get you in the celebratory spirit on the Fourth of July? Good thing you’ve come to the right place!

Here, we have compiled 95 quotes from some of our nation’s greatest thinkers, from philosophers and activists to presidents and poets.

Use these quotes to contemplate what this special day means for each of us, as well as for our incredible country as a whole.

Let’s kick off our celebration with a reflection on what Independence Day will mean this year and how we can appreciate it even more.

95 Famous Quotes & Sayings About Fourth of July

1. Independence Day: freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, and the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed – else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die. – Dwight D. Eisenhower
2. It will be celebrated with pomp and parade, bonfires, and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other. – John Adams
3. America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, imagination, and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand. – President Harry S. Truman
4. Then join hand in hand, brave Americans all! By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall. – John Dickinson
5. America is a tune. It must be sung together. – Gerald Stanley Lee
6. I believe in America because we have great dreams, and because we have the opportunity to make those dreams come true. – Wendell L. Wilkie
7. Intellectually I know that America is no better than any other country; emotionally I know she is better than every other country. – Sinclair Lewis
8. We on this continent should never forget that men first crossed the Atlantic not to find soil for their plows but to secure liberty for their souls. – Robert J. McCracken
9. In the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope. – Barack Obama
10. I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death! – Patrick Henry
11. 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
12. Where liberty dwells, there is my country. – Benjamin Franklin
13. In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved. – Franklin D. Roosevelt
14. My favorite thing about the United States? Lots of Americans, one America. – Val Sainsbury
15. The history of free men is never really written by chance but by choice; their choice! –Dwight D. Eisenhower
16. When you’re born, you get a ticket to the freak show. When you’re born in America, you get a front-row seat. – George Carlin
17. The truth will set you free, but first, it will piss you off. – Gloria Steinem
18. Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it. – George Bernard Shaw
19. It’s Fourth of July weekend, or, as I call it, Exploding Christmas. – Stephen Colbert
20. My father described this tall lady who stands in the middle of the New York harbor, holding high a torch to welcome people seeking freedom in America. I instantly fell in love. – Yakov Smirnoff
21. Laughter is America’s most important export. – Walt Disney
22. You wonder sometimes how our government puts on its pants in the morning. – Jon Stewart
23. If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear. – George Orwell
24. A real patriot is a fellow who gets a parking ticket and rejoices that the system works. –Bill Vaughan,
25. The United States is the only country with a known birthday. – James G. Blaine
26. What was important wasn’t the fireworks, it was that we were together this evening, together in this place, looking up into the sky at the same time. – Banana Yoshimoto
27. You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4th, 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
28. Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better. – Albert Camus
29. That’s the promise of tomorrow – that in the face of impossible odds, people who love their country can change it. – Barack Obama
30. Only in America / Where we dream in red, white, and blue / Only in America / Where we dream as big as we want to. – Brooks & Dunn
31. The fact is, with every friendship you make and every bond of trust you establish, you are shaping the image of America projected to the rest of the world. – Michelle Obama
32. All great change in America begins at the dinner table. – Ronald Reagan
33. This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave. – Elmer Davis
34. Who ever walked behind anyone to freedom? If we can’t go hand in hand, I don’t want to go. – Hazel Scott
35. Liberty is the breath of life to nations. – George Bernard Shaw
36. The happiness of America is intimately connected with the happiness of all mankind; she is destined to become the safe and venerable asylum of virtue, honesty, tolerance, quality, and peaceful liberty. – Marquis de Lafayette
37. Happy 4th of July! This country of immigrants, religious refugees, outcasts, and dreamers has come a long way. Let’s keep going. – Ellen DeGeneres
38. It is impossible to conquer a nation determined to be free! – Thomas Paine
39. Nothing but harmony, honesty, industry, and frugality are necessary to make us great and happy people. – George Washington
40. Liberty has never come from the government. Liberty has always come from its subjects of it. The history of liberty is a history of resistance. – Woodrow Wilson
41. Liberty has been planted here; and the more it is attacked, the more it grows and flourishes. – Samuel Sherwood
42.  True heroism is remarkably sober and very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost. – Arthur Ash
43. America means opportunity, freedom, and power. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
44. We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it. – William Faulkner
45. I love my freedom. I love America. – Jessi Lane Adams
46. The American flag is the symbol of our freedom, national pride, and history. – Mike Fitzpatrick
47. Liberty is the breath of life to nations. – George Bernard Shaw
48. I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it. – Voltaire
49. Only in America can someone start with nothing and achieve the American Dream. That’s the greatness of this country. – Rafael Cruz
50. Independence now and forever! – Daniel Webster
51. Where liberty dwells, there is my country. – Benjamin Franklin
52. Those who won our independence believed liberty to be the secret of happiness and courage to be the secret of liberty. – Louis D. Brandeis
53. I’d like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free and wanted other people to be also free. – Rosa Parks
54. From every mountainside. Let Freedom ring. – Samuel F. Smith
55. With freedom comes responsibility. – Eleanor Roosevelt
56. Freedom is never granted. It is earned by each generation. – Hillary Clinton
57. Give me liberty or give me death! – Patrick Henry
58. The fact is, with every friendship you make and every bond of trust you establish, you are shaping the image of America projected to the rest of the world. – Michelle Obama
59. When you’re born, you get a ticket to the freak show. When you’re born in America, you get a front-row seat. – George Carlin
60. The truth will set you free, but first, it will piss you off. – Gloria Steinem
61. Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. – Abraham Lincoln
62. From every mountainside, let freedom ring. – Martin Luther King Jr.
63. I’d like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free and wanted other people to be also free. – Rosa Parks
64. Laughter is America’s most important export. – Walt Disney
65. I think of a hero as someone who understands the degree of responsibility that comes with his freedom. – Bob Dylan
66. With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy? – Oscar Wilde
67. Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better. –Maya Angelou
68. Oh my God, you look like the Fourth of July… makes me want a hot dog, real bad! – Legally Blonde
69. In America, nobody says you have to keep the circumstances somebody else gives you. – Amy Tan
70. There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America. – Bill Clinton
71. The life of the nation is secure only when the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous. –Frederick Douglass
72. One characteristic of Americans is that they have no tolerance at all for anybody putting up with anything. We believe that whatever is going wrong ought to be fixed. – Margaret Mead
73. America has as much diversity in people as it does in geographies. – Terri Guillemets
74. America is not just a country, but a way of life. – Anonymous
75. Dreams are the foundation of America. – Lupita Nyong’o
76. America loves a forgiveness story. America is the land of second chances. – Michael Caputo
77. You know, that diversity that America has is so special. It’s starting to really become a cool thing for young people. – Russell Simmons
78. The American, by nature, is optimistic. He is experimental, an inventor, and a builder who builds best when called upon to build greatly. – John F. Kennedy
79. Dreams can grow wild born inside an American child. – Phil Vassar
80. When an American says that he loves his country, he means not only that he loves the New England hills, the prairies glistening in the sun, the wide and rising plains, the great mountains, and the sea. He means that he loves an inner air, an inner light in which freedom lives and in which a man can draw the breath of self-respect. – Adlai Stevenson
81. Ours is the only country deliberately founded on a good idea. – John Gunther
82. My favorite thing about the United States? Lots of Americans, one America. – Terri Guillemets
83. This is America: a brilliant diversity spread like stars, like a thousand points of light, in a broad and peaceful sky.  – George H.W. Bush
84. Diversity of thought and culture and religion and ideas has become the strength of America. – Gary Locke
85. If we cannot now end our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. – John F. Kennedy
86. I believe in America because we have great dreams, and because we have the opportunity to make those dreams come true. – Wendell Willkie
87. How important is it to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes! – Maya Angelou
88. America is a tune. It must be sung together. – Gerald Stanley Lee
89. America was built on courage, imagination, and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand. – Harry S. Truman
90. This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave. –Elmer Davis
91. Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country. – John F. Kennedy
92. What we need are critical lovers of America – patriots who express their faith in their country by working to improve it. – Hubert Humphrey
93. In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved. – Franklin D. Roosevelt
94. Patriotism is easy to understand in America. It means looking out for yourself by looking out for your country. – Calvin Coolidge
95. Freedom lies in being bold. – Robert Frost

Independence Day is a powerful reminder of the incredible strength and resilience of our nation. On the Fourth of July, we come together to celebrate freedom and reflect on the meaning of patriotism.

The many quotes about this day can provide invaluable insight into the inner workings of various mindsets and motivations, emphasizing just how meaningful a day it truly is.

Whether looking for comfort in unity or inspiration for ongoing struggles for independence, Americans turn to these quotes, again and again, to further appreciate the history, pride, and love shared throughout our country.

Celebrate this Fourth of July with all its wonderfully inspiring wisdom!