“The trouble is that once America goes off to war, it can't very well return without having fought one. If it doesn't find its enemy, for the sake of the enraged folks back home, it will have to manufacture one. Once war begins, it will develop a momentum, a logic and a justification of its own, and we'll lose sight of why it's being fought in the first place.” IfsFirstsWellsWarHomeAmericaLosesEnemyTroubleReturnLogicSightSakeFolksJustificationMomentumBack Home Book:Power Politics Source: Power Politics
“What joins the Americans one to another is not a common ancestry, language or race, but a shared work of the imagination that looks forward to the making of a future, not backward to the insignia of the past. Their enterprise is underwritten by a Constitution that allows for the widest horizons of sight and the broadest range of expression, supports the liberties of the people as opposed to the ambitions of the state, and stands as premise for a narrative rather than plan for an invasion or a monument. The narrative was always plural; not one story, many stories.” PeopleLooksStatesStoriesAmericaPastLanguageImaginationCommonRaceLibertySupportPlansExpressionAmbitionSightConstitutionNarrativeRangeEnterpriseHorizonMonumentInvasionPremisesAncestry Author:Lewis H. Lapham
“I can't believe people got so upset at the sight of a single breast! America is so parochial, I may just have to move to Europe where people are more mature about things like that!” PeopleBelieveMayI CanBodyAmericaMovingTelevisionEuropeSightUpsetBreastsMature Author:Janet Jackson
“The dream of romantic love is taken more seriously in North America than it is anywhere else in the world, which is why we believe in fidelity and why we believe in infidelity as well. It is also, of course, what makes our divorce rate as high as it is. Falling in love at first sight and instant gratification are part of the world in which we live, so there are people who believe adamantly in fidelity. They just don't believe in it for long.” PeopleWorldFirstsBelieveWellsLongDreamAmericaRomanceFallCoursesLove IsTakenSightFalling In LoveRateDon't BelieveDivorceInstantRomantic LoveLove At First SightInfidelityGratificationFidelityNorth AmericaInstant GratificationDivorce Rates Author:Merle Shain
“In the last few years, race relations in America have entered upon a period of intensified craziness wherein fear of being called a racist has so thoroughly overwhelmed fear of being a racist that we are in danger of losing sight of the distinction.” YearsLastsAmericaRaceDangerPeriodsLosingRacismSightRelationDistinctionRacistOverwhelmedRace RelationsCraziness Author:Florence King
“As to scenery (giving my own thought and feeling), while I know the standard claim is that Yosemite, Niagara Falls, the Upper Yellowstone and the like afford the greatest natural shows, I am not so sure but the prairies and plains, while less stunning at first sight, last longer, fill the esthetic sense fuller, precede all the rest, and make North America's characteristic landscape.” KnowsGivingFirstsShowsFeelingsLastsAmericaFallNaturalMy OwnStandardsSightClaimsLandscapeCharacteristicsSceneryStunningNorth AmericaThoughts And FeelingsPrairieYosemiteNiagaraYellowstoneNiagara Falls Book:Specimen Days & Collect Source: Specimen Days & Collect