Fourth Of July Quotes

“I am thankful that there are those among us who have sacrificed dearly on behalf of us. And I ardently pray to God that I might be less like myself and more like them.”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough

“From every mountain side
Let Freedom ring.”
― Samuel F. Smith

“We are notorious for ‘running’ around self-righteously declaring our rights to this and to that. But if we were to reflect upon the millions who ‘ran’ across bloodied battlefields so that we would have rights to declare, I think we’d do a whole lot less declaring and a whole more appreciating.”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough

“Liberty isn’t free, despite the fact that we ‘freely’ disregard that fact.”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough

“If I don’t passionately desire freedom for all of my fellowmen, it’s likely that I haven’t been sufficiently freed from my selfishness so that I might see their captivity.”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough

“The images strewn across a European landscape provoked horrors of the greatest sort. Therefore, seldom did my Dad or his friends ever talk about the war. Yet, to this day I can still see them lined up on the parade route, rising to ramrod attention and stalwartly saluting the flag until it had passed by. And without any hesitation whatsoever, I can tell you that I observed infinitely more patriotism in the silence of those simple actions than all of those who stand shouting their self-indulgent pontifications in the name of patriotism. And maybe, just maybe we should remember that liberty is not license, principle is non-negotiable, and humility is the bedfellow of great things.”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough

“Thank you to those men and women who put self aside because they held the thought of us on the inside. So, whether that be the bloodied beaches on D-Day or any number of other battles remembered or forgotten, we now hold you on the inside and we say “thank you.”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough

“We believe in America, where the most precious cultural enduring legacy is etched into the hearts of humble enlightened descendants of revolutionists, immigrants, people of an oppressed to fight for independence and destitute freedom lovers to come together under one elevated flag, one noble heart, one unified awe-inspiring voice
and one majestic nation of the United States Of America in recognizing the humanity, freedom, liberty to reveal a sacred place where no dream is too big and no dreamer is too small, forevermore.
God bless America, the miracle of fortitude and infinite hope.”
― Dr. Tony Beizaee

“Die for the people and even in death you shall live.”
― Abhijit Naskar, No Foreigner Only Family

“When your heart is labeled,
The world stays hypnotized in darkness.
The moment you rip them to pieces,
Tides of light awaken all synapses.”
― Abhijit Naskar, No Foreigner Only Family

“Determination designs destiny.”
― Abhijit Naskar, No Foreigner Only Family

“Al had sat in the muddied trenches of World War I and had watched the butchery of war massacre every living thing around it. Yet, all those years later he would rather talk about building bee hives, scattered his yard with every type of bird feeder imaginable, and planting flowerbeds deluged with irrepressible color. And it wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized that he wasn’t somehow avoiding the images of horror that occur when men set out to slaughter one another in battle. Rather, he courageously embraced those images and he committed his life to doing something completely opposite of what those images had done to him. And because he did, Al won his war and he taught me how to win mine.”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough

“Freedom exercised without the tempering of wisdom and the guidance of ethics is freedom gone rogue. And freedom gone rogue is no longer freedom. Rather, it is the rather effective method by which we’ve now chosen to destroy ourselves.”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough

“Freedom (properly understood) is less about the privilege that we’ve been granted to make decisions. Rather, I think that it’s far more about the opportunity that we have not to make them when we shouldn’t.”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough

“I must confess that I have never found myself standing at some terribly critical juncture where I had to trade my life to insure your liberties. But there have been untold millions who found themselves standing on battlefields strewn with unimaginable horrors who had to face that very choice. And although words fall miserably short in framing a heart overflowing with appreciation, I want to thank those who at those moments and in those places decided to hand me my liberty through the sacrifice of their lives.”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough

“I was looking for something to grasp when I stumbled upon the album and the songs with spiritual meaning. It grasped me and never let me go because the album reminded me of the things that are important in America”
― Phil Mitchell, A Bright New Morning: An American Story

“All the forces of reason combined are unable to rescue the thoughtless person who is so enamored with their agenda that they themselves are perishing at the hands of that very agenda. And in order to insure that the principled nature of this nation is not doomed to perish alongside them, we must make certain that we are not that person.”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough

“It’s not enough to have freedom, one must know how to practice that freedom.”
― Abhijit Naskar, When Call The People: My World My Responsibility

“If America stands today as a free country, it's because of those Americans who sacrificed their lives fighting against the redcoats. But there is another side of American history which is not taught in schools. And it's the bitter side of the story, so brace for it. The only reason the country called America even exists is because the native americans who were living in the land for a long time before the pilgrims arrived here from Europe, couldn't organize a large and strong enough uprising to fight them away from their land. This is more reason for each person of this sweet land of liberty to practice assimilation not segregation - this is more reason for each of us to come to the aid of the oppressed and segregated - this is more reason for each of us to stand upright against discrimination, narcissism, prejudice and sectarianism.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Hurricane Humans: Give me accountability, I'll give you peace

“A true patriot does not seek to live off of the sacrifices of others. Rather, a true patriot is the one who sacrifices so that others might live. And therefore, we might be quite wise to take a moment and ponder the reality that a nation heavy on recipients and light on patriots will soon have neither.”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough

“Flag Cruelty Fraught (The New American Anthem)

Say, can you see,
The darkness we've caused?
Our star spangled banner,
Is a flag cruelty fraught.
It ain't land of the free,
It ain't home of the brave.
Where looks define dignity,
Is but humanity's grave.
Slavery is alive as racism,
Bigotry still claims dominion.
First we must treat these ailments,
Or else, for us there is no dawn.
O say, it's time to abolish all false glory.
Forget valor, let's first practice equality.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Gente Mente Adelante: Prejudice Conquered is World Conquered

“A true patriot is the one who will boldly stand against the abuse of liberty when the culture around them is using those liberties to stand for the lesser things that are certain to destroy those liberties as well as the patriot who is standing for them.”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough

“My Liberty (The Sonnet)

My liberty is not in luxury,
My liberty is on the blades of grass.
My liberty is not in the palace,
My liberty is in molecules of dust.
My liberty is not in fancy ceremonies,
My liberty is in alleys of the homeless.
My liberty is not in the crown jewels,
My liberty is at the feet of the pathless.
My liberty is not in murals of rigidity,
My liberty is across tradition’s torment.
My liberty is not in the habits of history,
My liberty is in building the present.
My liberty is in the destruction of destiny.
I am liberty incarnate and I write my own reality.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Earthquakin' Egalitarian: I Die Everyday So Your Children Can Live

“Ain't My Fourth of July (The Sonnet)

Fourth of July comes and goes,
Yet slavery remains and thrives.
It kills in the name of supremacy,
It causes ruin in a pro-life guise.
Real advocates of life value life,
And place life above all belief.
Belief that values guns over person,
Is only pro-death and pro-disease.
Freedom involves accountability,
Without which we are just free animals.
Those who turn superstition into law,
Are no judge but a bunch of dumbbells.
This ain't my Fourth of July, for I actually value life.
Till all lives are deemed equal, I'll continue to strive.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Amantes Assemble: 100 Sonnets of Servant Sultans

“Beyond Boothbay, beyond the fifth of July...?”
― Joyce Carol Oates

“This Fourth of July, instead of celebrating your Americanness, do something to redeem your humanness. Anybody can become a super power by exploiting and abusing others - that's not greatness, it's bestiality - but to grow super without trampling on anybody, that's greatness - better yet, to grow super together with everybody, that's absolute greatness.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Tum Dunya Tek Millet: Greatest Country on Earth is Earth

“Growing up, any sort of fireworks were strictly prohibited by mom (and the law?). That said, the Fourth of July was a bit of an insane clusterf- of lights, bangs and danger.”
― Aesop Rock

“I never really understood who was actually buying them or how, but on the Fourth, the amount of explosions was absurd—and safety was not a priority. I’d find myself in the middle of it all, sh- exploding all around me, begging friends to break me off a couple firecrackers.”
― Aesop Rock

“Naskar's Folly (The Sonnet)

If your perception doesn't evolve with time,
It's not a sign of conviction but cowardice.
So in this sonnet I take it upon myself,
to correct my own early follies.

In one of my early works I called America,
"a great country, built by great people,"
while the harsh humanitarian fact of earth is,
America is a terrorist nation, built by criminals.

I once naively asked to 'appreciate the soldiers',
while unintentionally undermining peace-activism.
That one line has been eating me alive, until
in 2023 I declared, "military is legal terrorism."

Own up your follies, use them to sharpen your conviction.
Mistakes acknowledged are the beginning of illumination.”
― Abhijit Naskar, World War Human: 100 New Earthling Sonnets

“To be a light on a hill we must be a people on our knees. We become a light when we realize that we are not, and that any such light is imparted to us by the great God before whom we kneel. And as a gathered nation bowed on bended knee the darkness is exiled, the hill is ascended and its peak seized, the beacon is reignited in a burst of eternal light, and the people residing in the darkness of distant lands catch a glimpse of its ascending glory. And in the spectacle of hope ablaze, the people of distant lands now stand bathed in a light radiating out of a nation that bent its knee before a mighty God and climbed a hill with an inextinguishable torch.”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough