“For the majority of contemporary Americans, the essence of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness centers on a relentless personal quest to acquire, to consume, to indulge, and to shed whatever constraints might interfere with those endeavors.”

The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism (2008).

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "For the majority of contemporary Americans, the essence of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness centers on a rel…" by Andrew Bacevich?
Andrew Bacevich photo
Andrew Bacevich 13
United States Army officer 1947

Related quotes

José Martí photo

“Liberty the essence of life. Whatever is done without it is imperfect.”

José Martí (1853–1895) Poet, writer, Cuban nationalist leader

Martí : Thoughts/Pensamientos (1994)

John D. Rockefeller, Jr. photo

“I believe in the supreme worth of the individual and in his right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (1874–1960) American financier and philanthropist

I Believe

Lysander Spooner photo

“The science of mine and thine—the science of justice—is the science of all human rights; of all a man’s rights of person and property; of all his rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Lysander Spooner (1808–1887) Anarchist, Entrepreneur, Abolitionist

Section I, p. 5
Natural Law; or The Science of Justice (1882), Chapter I. The Science of Justice.

Hillary Clinton photo

“There is a constitutional right for people to own guns, but there's also a constitutional right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness…”

Hillary Clinton (1947) American politician, senator, Secretary of State, First Lady

Interview with Steve Harvey, quoted in "Clinton confuses Constitution with Declaration of Independence in gun pitch" http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/02/25/clinton-confuses-constitution-with-declaration-independence-in-gun-pitch.html, FoxNews.com (25 February 2016)
Presidential campaign (April 12, 2015 – 2016)

Abraham Lincoln photo

“God created all men free, giving to each the same rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) 16th President of the United States

In Richmond, Virginia (April 4, 1865), as quoted in Recollected Words of Abraham Lincoln http://web.archive.org/web/20130517052731/http://mrlincolnandfreedom.org/inside.asp?ID=84&subjectID=3 (1996), by Don Edward Fehrenbacher and Virginia Fehrenbacher, editor, p. 257
1860s, Tour of Richmond (1865)
Context: In reference to you, colored people, let me say God has made you free. Although you have been deprived of your God-given rights by your so-called masters, you are now as free as I am, and if those that claim to be your superiors do not know that you are free, take the sword and bayonet and teach them that you are; for God created all men free, giving to each the same rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Ilana Mercer photo
Steve King photo
George W. Bush photo

“My pro-life position is I believe there's life. It's not necessarily based in religion. I think there's a life there, therefore the notion of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.”

George W. Bush (1946) 43rd President of the United States

Quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle (January 23, 2001)
2000s, 2001

Billy Graham photo

Related topics