The American character looks always as if it had just had a rather bad haircut, which gives it, in our eyes at any rate, a greater humanity than the European, which even among its beggars has an all too professional air. Mary McCarthy
If we are to give our utmost effort and skill and enthusiasm, we must believe in ourselves, which means believing in our past and in our future, in our parents and in our children, in that particular blend of moral purpose and practical inventiveness which is the American character. Margaret Mead
We are faced this year with the choice between the "work ethic" that built this Nation's character and the new "welfare ethic" that could cause that American character to weaken. Richard Nixon
If we take the route of the permanent handout, the American character will itself be impoverished. Richard Nixon
Nixon represents that dark, venal and incurably violent side of the American character almost every other country in the world has learned to fear and despise. Hunter S. Thompson
The American character is both idealistic and realistic: why can't our government reflect both? Hillary Clinton