Citizenship

Citizenship is membership in a political community. The term derives from membership of a city (as was the term citizen), but now normally refers to a nation. Citizenship carries with it rights of political participation; many also consider it brings duties to exercise those rights responsibly.

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• I do not think that the effect of good environment, of fine buildings, of pleasant homes, upon the character, temperament, will, disposition, and energy of the people sufficiently dawns upon the average citizen. ~ Thomas Adams

• This is not a contest between persons. The humblest citizen in all the land, when clad in the armor of a righteous cause, is stronger than all the hosts of error. I come to you in defense of a cause as holy as the cause of liberty - the cause of humanity. ~ William Jennings Bryan

• But without a caring society, without each citizen voluntarily accepting the weight of responsibility, government is destined to grow even larger, taking more of your money, burrowing deeper into your lives. ~ Jeb Bush

• It is a remarkable comment on our affairs that the former prime minister of a great sovereign state should thus be received as an honorary citizen of another. ~ Winston Churchill

• Voting is the most precious right of every citizen, and we have a moral obligation to ensure the integrity of our voting process. ~ Hillary Clinton

• Technology can be an obstacle for immigrants from low-tech countries to obtain US citizenship since the USCIS relies heavily on the internet to distribute information about naturalization.~ Citizenship Coach

• Be assured, fellow citizens, that in a democracy it is the laws that guard the person of the citizen and the constitution of the state, whereas the despot and the oligarch find their protection in suspicion and in armed guards. ~ Aeschines

• Today, the Iraqi citizen sees that America is coming and wants to occupy his country and kill him, and he is willing to experience for himself what happened in Palestine. ~ Bashar al-Assad

• I believe if a private citizen is able to affect public opinion in a constructive way he doesn't have to be an elected public servant to perform a public service. ~ Warren Beatty

• My favorite song is "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" because it's become my signature song. I sang it for six American presidents and five command performances... it's made me a world citizen. ~ Tony Bennett

• Every citizen should be a soldier. This was the case with the Greeks and Romans, and must be that of every free state. ~ Thomas Jefferson

• Every citizen will be able, in his productive years when he is earning, to insure himself against the ravages of illness in his old age. ~ Lyndon B. Johnson

• The function of a citizen and a soldier are inseparable. ~ Benito Mussolini

• The first requisite of a good citizen in this republic of ours is that he shall be able and willing to pull his own weight. ~ Theodore Roosevelt

• I believe with all my heart that America remains 'the great idea' that inspires the world. It is a privilege to be born here. It is an honor to become a citizen here. It is a gift to raise your family here, to vote here, and to live here. ~ Arnold Schwarzenegger

• It may be laid down as a primary position, and the basis of our system, that every Citizen who enjoys the protection of a Free Government, owes not only a proportion of his property, but even of his personal services to the defense of it. ~ George Washington

• Justice in the life and conduct of the State is possible only as first it resides in the hearts and souls of the citizens. ~ Plato

• I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts. ~ Abraham Lincoln

• It is the duty of every citizen according to his best capacities to give validity to his convictions in political affairs. ~ Albert Einstein

• Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. ~ Margaret Mead

• Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote that he is not making a present or a compliment to please an individual—or at least that he ought not so to do; but that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country.~ Samuel Adams

• A government by secrecy benefits no one. It injures the people it seeks to serve; it damages its own integrity and operation. It breeds distrust, dampens the fervor of its citizens and mocks their loyalty. ~ Senator Long, 1964

• The citizen can bring our political and governmental institutions back to life, make them responsive and accountable, and keep them honest. No one else can.~ John Gardner

• It is sobering to reflect that one of the best ways to get yourself a reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go about repeating the very phrases which our founding fathers used in the struggle for independence ~ Charles A Beard

• It is not the function of our Government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the Government from falling into error. ~ Justice Robert Houghwout Jackson

• The citizen who sees his society's democratic clothes being worn out and does not cry out is not a patriot but a traitor. ~ Mark Twain