Exceptionalism Quotes

• I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism.

  Barack Obama

  Believe, Greek, British

  News Conference By President Obama, obamawhitehouse.archives.gov. April 4, 2009.

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• We don't have to apologize for American exceptionalism or western values.

  Rick Perry

  Western Values, Apologizing, American Exceptionalism

  Source: www.foxnews.com

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• Everything that everyone is afraid of has already happened: The fragility of capitalism, which we don't want to admit; the loss of the empire of the United States; and American exceptionalism. In fact, American exceptionalism is that we are exceptionally backward in about fifteen different categories, from education to infrastructure.

  James Hillman

  Loss, United States, Different

  "America and the Shift in Ages: An Interview with Jungian James Hillman". Interview With Pythia Peay, www.huffingtonpost.com. February 26, 2011.

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• It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation.

  Vladimir Putin

  Inspirational, Motivation, People

  "Putin jabs U.S., Obama in op-ed, says Syria strike would be 'act of aggression'" By Jamie Crawford, www.cnn.com. September 12, 2013.

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• That [American exceptionalism] is a reaction to the inability of people to understand global complexity or important issues like American energy dependency. Therefore, they search for simplistic sources of comfort and clarity. And the people that they are now selecting to be, so to speak, the spokespersons of their anxieties are, in most cases, stunningly ignorant.

  Zbigniew Brzezinski

  Issues, People, Anxiety

  "Spokespersons of US Right 'In Most Cases Stunningly Ignorant'". Interview with Gregor Peter Schmitz, www.spiegel.de. December 6, 2010.

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• We're at the crossroads. Down one road is a European centralized bureaucratic socialist welfare system in which politicians and bureaucrats define the future. Down the other road is a proud, solid, reaffirmation of American exceptionalism.

  Newt Gingrich

  Proud, Welfare, Politician

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• Mitt Romney says he believes in America and that he will restore American exceptionalism. I have news for him, we already have an exceptional American as president and we believe in Barack Obama.

  John F. Kerry

  Believe, America, President

  John Kerry's speech to the Democratic National Convention, www.washingtonpost.com. September 6, 2012.

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• The position of the Americans is quite exceptional, and it may be believed that no democratic people will ever be placed in a similar one.

  Alexis de Tocqueville

  People, May, Democratic

  Alexis de Tocqueville (2003). “Democracy in America”, p.440, Barnes & Noble Publishing

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• The notion of American exceptionalism is effective in part because there is little on the face of it that is offensive.

  Russ Feingold

  Littles, Faces, Offensive

  "Russ Feingold: ‘It’s A Threat To Our Country’ To Elect One Of The GOP Presidential Candidates" by Amanda Terkel, www.huffingtonpost.com. February 21, 2012.

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• The idea of American exceptionalism doesn't extend to Americans being exceptional.

  Maureen Dowd

  Ideas, American Exceptionalism, Exceptional

  "Aaron Sorkin Conjures a Meeting of Obama and Bartlet" by Maureen Dowd, www.nytimes.com. September 20, 2008.

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• My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.

  John F. Kennedy

  Inspirational, Inspiring, Country

  Inaugural Address, 20 Jan. 1961

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• The human condition for the vast majority of people on this planet for the entire time of what humanity has been here has been bondage and tyranny, dictatorship, pestilence. That's really what American exceptionalism is, when you get right down to it.

  Rush Limbaugh

  People, Humanity, Majority

  Source: www.rushlimbaugh.com

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• Post World War II America draws a great deal of interest, but the students also seem to know quite a bit about American exceptionalism and its historical roots.

  Mohammad Marandi

  War, Roots, America

  Source: www.guernicamag.com

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• 

  We are all different, but when we ask for the Lord's blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal.

  Vladimir Putin

  Blessing, Different, Forget

  "Vladimir Putin says USA not so special". Interview with Ben Knight, www.abc.net.au. September 13, 2013.

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• It is not that I am not a fan of American exceptionalism. That is like saying I am not a fan of the moon being made out of green cheese - it does not exist. Powerful states have quite typically considered themselves to be exceptionally magnificent, and the United States is no exception to that. The basis for it is not very substantial to put it politely.

  Noam Chomsky

  Powerful, Moon, Green

  Interview with "The Young Turks", October 26, 2010.

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• If people are being upstanding citizens of the Republic, then you have to widen the net to incarcerate them. This explains why America's prisons are full of nonviolent offenders - a perfect example of American exceptionalism.

  Henry Rollins

  America, People, Perfect

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• I think the American people would be compassionate and practical. But we need to be talking about assimilation as well, something that is politically incorrect, I know, to say that people should learn English, should learn American exceptionalism, shouldn't come here to use our freedoms to undermine the freedoms we give to everybody. But there's nothing wrong with saying people who want to come here should want to be Americans.

  Bobby Jindal

  Thinking, Talking, People

  "Bobby Jindal opens up about his 2016 presidential run". "Hannity" with Sean Hannity, www.foxnews.com. July 3, 2015.

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• American exceptionalism, in the broad sense, is not a bunch of braggadocious words people say, "Yeah, we're better people. We have a better country. We are higher class people." That's not what it is. America was the exception to the way human beings prior to America, most of which lived.

  Rush Limbaugh

  Country, Class, America

  Source: www.rushlimbaugh.com

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• No doubt, the United States and the American people are a gear country and a great people. Nobody disputes this, but talking about exceptionalism is way too much, and this is creating certain problems in relations, and not only with Russia, as I see it.

  Vladimir Putin

  Country, Russia, Talking

  Source: www.rt.com

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• There are also fundamental issues related to what the current leader, President [Barack] Obama, said. I am referring to his idea about American exceptionalism. I am skeptical about this idea.

  Vladimir Putin

  Issues, Ideas, Leader

  Source: www.rt.com

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• The exceptionalism of a black U.S. President is not important to me. It's what he does - and who he has at the table.

  Danny Glover

  Black, Important, President

  Source: progressive.org

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• A lot of liberals don't believe in American exceptionalism, but it doesn't mean they don't love America.

  Megyn Kelly

  Believe, Mean, America

  Source: www.foxnews.com

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• 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

  Dream, Opportunity, Erosion

  Marco Rubio’s speech on poverty, hotair.com. January 8, 2014.

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• Newspapers and their editors have to become as accountable as the rest of us - they are not 'a special case,' and they have only themselves to blame for having lost the argument for 'exceptionalism' - and with it the right to 'self-regulation.

  David Puttnam

  Self, Editors, Special

  "Post-Leveson, the press must become as accountable as the rest of us" by David Puttnam, www.theguardian.com. September 11, 2012.

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• The greatness of America is capitalism, free market capitalism. The exceptionalism of American business.

  Fran Tarkenton

  Greatness, America, Free Market

  FaceBook post by Fran Tarkenton from Jun 19, 2013

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