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The Promise of American Life

Book by Herbert Croly · 28 quotes · Literature, Political, Democracy

A seminal work analyzing the American Dream and its evolution over time, exploring its influence on social, economic, and cultural aspects of American life.

Book detail: The Promise of American Life is presented as a focused source page for quotations connected with this book, collection, transcript, or source record.

A seminal work analyzing the American Dream and its evolution over time, exploring its influence on social, economic, and cultural aspects of American life.

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The Promise of American Life Quotes

“Our country was thereby saved from the consequences of its distracting individualistic conception of democracy, and its merely legal conception of nationality. It was because the followers of Jackson and Douglas did fight for it, that the Union was preserved.”

Country Fighting Literature Democracy Consequence Unions Saved Our Country Conception Followers Nationality Individualistic

Book:The Promise of American Life

Source: The Promise of American Life

“The essential nature of a democracy compels it to insist that individual power of all kinds, political, economic, or intellectual, shall not be perversely and irresponsibly exercised.”

Kind Political Individual Democracy Economic Essentials Intellectual All Kinds Individual Power

Book:The Promise of American Life

Source: The Promise of American Life

“The average American is nothing if not patriotic.”

Ifs Average Uplifting Patriotism Patriotic Native American Memorial Memorial Day Honoring Veterans Memorial Day Honoring Memorial Day

Book:The Promise of American Life

Source: The Promise of American Life

“Democracy must stand or fall on a platform of possible human perfectibility. If human nature cannot be improved by institutions, democracy is at best a more than usually safe form of political organization . . . . But if it is to work better as well as merely longer, it must have some leavening effect on human nature; and the sincere democrat is obliged to assume the power of the leaven. [Progressive]”

Ifs Humans Wells Form Political Fall Democracy Effects Human Nature Safe Organization Institutions Assuming Democrat Sincere Progressive Platforms Obliged

Book:The Promise of American Life

Source: The Promise of American Life

“If it be true that democracy is based upon the assumption that every man shall serve his fellow man, the organization of democracy should be gradually adapted to that assumption.”

Ifs Men Should Democracy Organization Fellows Every Man Being True Assumption Fellow Man Adapted

Book:The Promise of American Life

Source: The Promise of American Life

“I am not a prophet in any sense of the word, and I entertain an active and intense dislike of the foregoing mixture of optimism, fatalism, and conservatism.”

Literature Optimism Active Intense Prophet Host Dislike Mixtures Conservatism Fatalism

Book:The Promise of American Life

Source: The Promise of American Life

“Democracy may mean something more than a theoretically absolute popular government, but it assuredly cannot mean anything less.”

May Mean Government Literature Democracy Absolutes Halloween

Book:The Promise of American Life

Source: The Promise of American Life

“American history contains much matter for pride and congratulation, and much matter for regret and humiliation.”

Matter Regret Pride American History Humiliation Congratulations

Book:The Promise of American Life

Source: The Promise of American Life

“Had it not been for the Atlantic Ocean and the virgin wilderness, the United States would never have been the Land of Promise.”

Has Beens States United United States Land Promise Ocean Wilderness Virgins Atlantic Ocean

Book:The Promise of American Life

Source: The Promise of American Life

“In Jefferson's mind democracy was tantamount to extreme individualism.”

Mind Literature Democracy Extremes Individualism

Book:The Promise of American Life

Source: The Promise of American Life

“Let it be immediately added, however, that this economic independence and prosperity has always been absolutely associated in the American mind with free political institutions.”

Mind Political Literature Economic Independence Institutions Prosperity Political Institutions Economic Independence

Book:The Promise of American Life

Source: The Promise of American Life

“Of course, Americans have no monopoly of patriotic enthusiasm and good faith.”

Courses Enthusiasm Patriotic Monopoly Good Faith

Book:The Promise of American Life

Source: The Promise of American Life

“The higher American patriotism, on the other hand, combines loyalty to historical tradition and precedent with the imaginative projection of an ideal national Promise.”

Hands Literature Higher Promise Ideals Tradition Historical Loyalty Patriotism Imaginative Projection Precedent American Patriotism

Book:The Promise of American Life

Source: The Promise of American Life

“So far I, at least, have no fault to find with implications of Hamilton's Federalism, but unfortunately his policy was in certain other respects tainted with a more doubtful tendency.”

Certain Literature Policy Faults Tendencies Implications Doubtful Tainted Hamilton Federalism

Book:The Promise of American Life

Source: The Promise of American Life

“The adoption by Jefferson and the Republicans of the political structure of their opponents is of an importance hardly inferior to that of the adoption of the Constitution by the states.”

States Political Republican Importance Constitution Structure Opponents Adoption Inferiors

Book:The Promise of American Life

Source: The Promise of American Life

“The American economic, political, and social organization has given to its citizens the benefits of material prosperity, political liberty, and a wholesome natural equality; and this achievement is a gain, not only to Americans, but to the world and to civilization.”

World Political Literature Given Social Natural Liberty Economic Materials Citizens Civilization Achievement Benefits Gains Organization Prosperity Equality Social Organization

Book:The Promise of American Life

Source: The Promise of American Life

“The more consciously democratic Americans became, however, the less they were satisfied with a conception of the Promised Land, which went no farther than a pervasive economic prosperity guaranteed by free institutions.”

Literature Economic Land Institutions Democratic Prosperity Satisfied Conception Promised Land Economic Prosperity

Book:The Promise of American Life

Source: The Promise of American Life

“The Constitution was the expression not only of a political faith, but also of political fears. It was wrought both as the organ of the national interest and as the bulwark of certain individual and local rights.”

Political Certain Individual Interest Rights Expression Constitution Locals Organs National Interests

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Source: The Promise of American Life

“The only fruitful promise of which the life of any individual or any nation can be possessed, is a promise determined by an ideal.”

Literature Individual Nations Promise Ideals Determined Possessed Fruitful Life

Book:The Promise of American Life

Source: The Promise of American Life

“The moral and social aspiration proper to American life is, of course, the aspiration vaguely described by the word democratic; and the actual achievement of the American nation points towards an adequate and fruitful definition of the democratic ideal.”

Life Is Courses Literature Nations Social Moral Achievement Ideals Democratic Definitions Aspiration Adequate American Life Swagger Swag Democratic Ideals

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Source: The Promise of American Life

“The first phase of American political history was characterized by the conflict between the Federalists and the Republicans, and it resulted in the complete triumph of the latter.”

Firsts Political Literature Republican Conflict Triumph Latter Phases Federalist Political History

Book:The Promise of American Life

Source: The Promise of American Life

“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.”

Has Beens America Literature Opportunity Economic Promise Advantage Independence Prosperity Aliens Immigrants American Life Converting Economic Independence

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Source: The Promise of American Life

“Unless the great majority of Americans not only have, but believe they have, a fair chance, the better American future will be dangerously compromised.”

Believe Literature Chance Fairs Majority

Book:The Promise of American Life

Source: The Promise of American Life

“When the Promise of American life is conceived as a national ideal, whose fulfillment is a matter of artful and laborious work, the effect thereof is substantially to identify the national purpose with the social problem.”

Matter Problem Life Is Purpose Social Effects Promise Ideals Fulfillment American Life Social Problems

Book:The Promise of American Life

Source: The Promise of American Life

“The interest which lay behind Federalism was that of well-to-do citizens in a stable political and social order, and this interest aroused them to favor and to seek some form of political organization which was capable of protecting their property and promoting its interest.”

Wells Form Political Order Social Interest Behinds Citizens Capable Organization Lays Property Favors Stable Promoting Social Order Federalism

Book:The Promise of American Life

Source: The Promise of American Life

“The combination of Federalism and Republicanism which formed the substance of the system, did not constitute a progressive and formative political principle, but it pointed in the direction of a constructive formula.”

Political Literature Principles Combination Substance Progressive Formulas Constructive Federalism Republicanism

Book:The Promise of American Life

Source: The Promise of American Life

“The years between 1800 and 1825 were distinguished, so far as our domestic development was concerned, by the growth of the Western pioneer Democracy in power and self-consciousness.”

Years Self Growth Consciousness Democracy Development Concerned Western Distinguished Pioneers Self Consciousness

Book:The Promise of American Life

Source: The Promise of American Life

“When Jefferson and the Republicans rallied to the Union and to the existing Federalist organization, the fabric of traditional American democracy was almost completely woven.”

Literature Democracy Republican Organization Unions Traditional Fabric Woven Federalist American Democracy

Book:The Promise of American Life

Source: The Promise of American Life

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