When the U.S. passport was redesigned in 2007, not only was a biometric chip added, but the pages were reimagined.
Images were added. Ostensibly to cut down on counterfeits, the dark images have made some stamps difficult to read. Quotes were also added at the top of each page. In a 52-page passport, this included 25 patriotic quotes relating to the United States. Some found these quotes to be overly-jingoistic, but the selection was carefully balanced to include voices across the political spectrum.
I compiled every quote and include it below.
…And that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.
-Abraham Lincoln
The principle of free governments adhere to the American soil. It is bedded in it, immovable as its mountains
-Daniel Webster
Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair.
-George Washington
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
-Declaration of Independence
We have a great dream. It started way back in 1776, and God grant that America will be true to her dream.
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
This is a new nation based on a mighty continent, of boundless possibilities.
-Theodore Roosevelt
Whatever America hopes to bring to pass in the world must first come to pass in the heart of America.
-Dwight D. Eisenhower
For this is what America is all about. It is the uncrossed desert and the unclimbed ridge. It is the star that is not reached and the harvest sleeping in the unplowed ground. Is our world gone? We say “Farewell.” Is a new world coming? We welcome it–and we will bend it to the hopes of man.
-Lyndon B. Johnson
May God continue the unity of our country as the railroad unites the two great oceans of the world.
-inscribed on the Golden Spike. Promontory Point, 1869.
We send thanks to all the Animal life in the world. They have many things to teach us people. We are glad they are still here and we hope it will always be so.
-Excerpt from the Thanksgiving Address, Mohawk version
The cause of freedom is not the case of a race or a sect or a party or a class — it is the cause of humankind, the very birthright of humanity.
-Anna Julia Cooper
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
-John F. Kennedy
Liberty is never out of bounds or off limits; it spreads wherever it can capture the imagination of men.
-E.B. White
What a glorious morning for our country.
-Samuel Adams
We are covered by the American banner; let us cling to it, and if required, sacrifice our lives defending it.
-Jose Antonio Navarro
…That this nation. under God, shall have a new birth of freedom.
-Abraham Lincoln
Go west, young man, and grow up with the country.
-Horace Greeley
Democracy is based upon the conviction that there are extraordinary possibilities in ordinary people.
-Harry Emerson Fosdick
A big iron needle stitching the country together.
-Jesamyn West
It seems to be a law of nature, inflexible and inexorable, that those who will not risk cannot win.
-John Paul Jones
It is immigrants who brought to this land the skills of their hands and brains to make it a beacon of opportunity and hope for all men.
-Herbert H. Lehman
This nation has a banner…it is the banner of Dawn. It means Liberty…Every color means liberty; every thread means liberty.
-Henry Ward Beecher
We live in a world that is lit by lightning. So much is changing and will change, but so much endures and transcends time.
-Ronald Reagan
The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time.
-Thomas Jefferson
Every generation has the obligation to free men’s minds for a look at new worlds…to look out from a higher plateau than the last generation.
-Ellison S. Onizuka
For the great story behind the last quote, read this.
Nice to see someone your age paying attention to this. It give me hope for the future. As much of a mess as things may seem in the US now, we are lucky to be here, at least that is how I feel today.
These quotes are absurd, although it was interesting for you to compile them here. I’m frankly embarrassed to use my US passport, because of the hyper-nationalism on display.
Luckily my EU passport doesn’t feature quotes from Mussolini and every other hot-headed nationalist that has complicated Europe’s history.
Thank you for being the voice of sanity. The inclusion of all these quotes is cringeworthy to say the least.
Being a bit dramatic, aren’t we? Embarrassed because it contains quotes from historical figures? Weak, have some more soy.
@Anthony, if you are so embarrassed please feel free to turn your US passport into the State Department. I am sure they would be happy to accommodate you.
Donald is that you?
I did exactly that (give my blue passport back) Won’t look back.
Today I’m back in Europe, enjoying my freedom to drink a beer in a public space, to have decent health care in between jobs or without millions of dollars. To share a country with compassionate normal people…well, everywhere.
Enjoying my freedom to almost certainly not get shot in the head for no reason, well…ever.
You redneck Trumper.
@Andy – Good on you.
Since some people don’t like it, should the passport quotes be modified?. Example:
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall not pay any price, not bear any burden, not meet any hardship, sell out our friends, agree with any foe, and kowtow to North Korea to assure the survival the Presidency, even if we have a puppet regime.
And finally, ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what your country can do for you. Maybe a free cell phone, maybe free city bus fare, maybe even a car?
= = =
No, don’t use the above quotes. Better yet, not so many pictures which obscure lightly stamped passport stamps.
Thank you, Matthew.
I read my passport while waiting sometimes.
Screw the haters and trolls.
Getting my US Passport was a process that ultimately took me almost 20 years. I sincerely am proud every moment I hold it. I became a US Citizen 30 years ago tomorrow.
The next edition will add – “Covfefe”