Americans' great and secret fear is that America may turn out to be a phenomenon rather than a civilization.

America is the only nation in history which miraculously has gone directly from barbarism to degeneration without the usual interval of civilization.

So who's perfect? Washington had false teeth. Franklin was nearsighted. Mussolini had syphilis. Unpleasant things have been said about Walt Whitman and Oscar Wilde. Tchaikovsky had his problems, too. And Lincoln was constipated.

I ask that all Americans demonstrate in their personal and public lives...the high ethical standards that are essential to good character and to the continued success of our nation.

There is a story of an Oxford student who once remarked, "I despise all Americans, but have never met one I didn't like";

America is not like a blanket-one piece of unbroken cloth, the same color, the same texture, the same size. America is more like a quilt-many patches, many pieces, many colors, many sizes, all woven and held together by a common thread.