J. William Fulbright Quotes

To criticize one's country is to do it a service and to pay it a compliment. It is a service because it may spur the country to do better than it is doing; it is a compliment because it evidences a belief that the country can do better than it is doing.

Patriotism can be good or bad. Knee-jerk patriotism can be very bad. I'm patriotic almost to the point of self-consciousness, but I love my country the way I love a friend or a child who I would correct if she was going the wrong way. Who I expect the very best from.

I do think the patriotic thing to do is to critique my country. How else do you make a country better but by pointing out its flaws?

I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.

The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.

America is not static. America is striving. And sometimes, America requires critique. Jingoism is an avoidance of realism. You can simultaneously love and be disappointed in the object of your love, wanting it to be better than it is. In fact, that is a measure of love. Honest critique is a pillar of patriotism.

No matter how one looks at it, Japanese are superior to Americans in every respect. But as a group, we are inferior to them. So from now on we must have group training, foster science, and the entire nation must labor hard to construct a new better Japan than today.

The citizen who criticizes his country is paying it an implied tribute.... It means that he has not given up hope for his country, that he still has hope for it ... I do not think it is "selling America short" when we ask a great deal of her; on the contrary, it is those who ask nothing, those who see no fault, who are really selling America short!

I want my country to be independent, always independent. I have to defend my convictions as a patriot and as a national leader. I have done my best, but as a human being I cannot be perfect, nobody is perfect.

If you think America is great, remember that every person telling you otherwise may carry a clue to making it greater.

I feel, if I criticize my country, it's not because I don't like my country. I love my country. That is my patriotism. I want to make it a better place for my children, for everyone. And if we don't look at what's in front of us, and we allow things to get out of hand because of other vested interests, then as citizens are not doing a good job.

The best critics of America are Americans.

In the modern world, nationalism remains a very important force. We delude ourselves into thinking that globalization has made all of that redundant and that everyone just wants to be like America.

If you really love people, you say you really love people, really care about people, want the best for people, well, America is the best place. Instead of coming here and destroying it, why not copy it, replicate it?

I don't hate America. I love America. I want it to be better. The only way we can get it to be better is to realistically criticize what's wrong with it.

I love America more than any other country in the world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually. I think all theories are suspect, that the finest principles may have to be modified, or may even be pulverized by the demands of life, and that one must find, therefore, one's own moral center and move through the world hoping that this center will guide one aright.

I will never apologize for the United States of America - I don't care what the facts are. Said after 'Vincennes' shot down an Iranian Airliner.

What every Englishman thinks about patriotism, the last refuge of a scoundrel.

I get always a little uptight when I hear politicians say how exceptional America is.

The vision Donald Trump has articulated to Make America Great Again means a stronger America at home and abroad.

What I will do is put America first. People don't like to use that term of America first, but we're going to make America great again by putting America first.

As the adage goes, 'fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me'... It's time for patriots everywhere to rally together again and take back America.

I think it's incumbent upon me to try to be smart and make good choices and work with good people and work my ass off when I'm working with good people and I have to let everyone have their opinion afterwards. But this is what happens. You make a movie or you're on a show and then you have this experience and everyone tells you what you did. They tell you what you did. That's allowed. That's the experience of being human and subjectivity. That's it. We can only do what we'll do, and I can only do the best I can do.

The true religion of America has always been America.

I care a heck of a lot more about America than I do about any political party.