To accept your country without betraying it, you must love it for that which shows what it might become. America — this monument to the genius of ordinary men and women, this place where hope becomes capacity, this long, halting turn of 'no' into the 'yes' — needs citizens who love it enough to re-imagine and re-make it.

I have tried to serve our country honorably. I have made mistakes, but I hope my love for America will be weighed favorably against them. I have often observed that I am the luckiest person on Earth. I feel that way even now as I prepare for the end of my life. I have loved my life, all of it. I have had experiences, adventures and friendships enough for ten satisfying lives, and I am so thankful. Like most people, I have regrets. But I would not trade a day of my life, in good or bad times, for the best day of anyone else’s. I owe that satisfaction to the love of my family. No man ever had a more loving wife or children he was prouder of than I am of mine. And I owe it to America. To be connected to America’s causes — liberty, equal justice, respect for the dignity of all people — brings happiness more sublime than life’s fleeting pleasures. Our identities and sense of worth are not circumscribed but enlarged by serving good causes bigger than ourselves. "Fellow Americans" — that association has meant more to me than any other. I lived and died a proud American. We are citizens of the world’s greatest republic, a nation of ideals, not blood and soil. We are blessed and are a blessing to humanity when we uphold and advance those ideals at home and in the world. We have helped liberate more people from tyranny and poverty than ever before in history. We have acquired great wealth and power in the process.

Secondly, you are blessed to live in the greatest Nation – ever. Here you can strive and succeed as far as you dare to dream. It says something about our country that millions around the world are willing to leave their homes and families and risk everything to come here and realize the American dream. Their pursuit of that dream invigorates our national soul. It renews our country's character. And it adds vitality to our culture.

It was always accounted a virtue in a man to love his country. With us it is now something more than a virtue. It is a necessity. When an American says that he loves his country, he means not only that he loves the New England hills, the prairies glistening in the sun, the wide and rising plains, the great mountains, and the sea. He means that he loves an inner air, an inner light in which freedom lives and in which a man can draw the breath of self-respect. Men who have offered their lives for their country know that patriotism is not the fear of something; it is the love of something.

What makes America great is the idea that when government is limited and decisions are made closest to the people they impact, people are free — free to work, free to live, free to choose, free to fail and free to achieve. The America I know provides everyone an equal opportunity to be as unequaled as they choose to be. The America I know gives back. Americans, regardless of financial status, are the most giving people on the planet. On their own, without government requirement, our people give their money, their time and their attention to causes, communities and people in need whether it is across the street or around the world. I’ve experienced this generosity throughout my life and during my battle with cancer. I am so grateful.

I care dearly for this country [USA]. I do love this country. I spend enough time overseas to realize that as bad as it is it's still probably about the best thing going. What kills me though is when I know it can be better.

Our country is not perfect, but I love her because of the good that she accomplishes. I must work to make the country better, not by tearing her down but working to build her up.

Life is good in America, but the good life still eludes us. Our standard of living is admittedly high, but measured by those things that truly distinguish a civilization, our living standards are hardly high at all. We have, I fear, confused power with greatness.

We love America. Why are we proud? We are proud, first of all, because from the beginning of this nation, a man can walk upright, no matter who he is, or who she is. He can walk upright and meet his friend — or his enemy; and he does not fear that because that enemy may be in a position of great power that he can be suddenly thrown in jail to rot there without charges and with no recourse to justice. We have the habeas corpus act and we respect it.

I love our country with all my heart. Everywhere I go — everywhere I go, in everyone I meet, I see a nation that is ready to move forward, ready for the next step in the incredible journey that is America. I see an America where we hold fast to the fearless belief that built our nation and inspired the world — that here, in this country, anything is possible; that nothing is out of reach. An America where we care for one another, look out for one another, and recognize that we have so much more in common than what separates us. That none of us — none of us has to fail for all of us to succeed. And that in unity, there is strength.

Actually, I also like America in a lot of ways. I have friends and family there, the food is good, at the end of the day. I really love American culture . . . In the 1990s we looked at America like a saviour. We proudly wore American flag T-shirts and caps. I learnt the Declaration of Independence by heart.

We are the greatest nation on the face of the earth. We are home to the bravest and strongest military who defends freedom around the globe. We respect and honor the rights of the individual versus that of a central government. We believe you should get to wake up each day and decide for yourself what you want to do, not have your decisions dictated to you by the government. Our values, our rights, our freedom and our opportunities are the reason our borders are flooded at this very moment – because millions more wish they could be here, they wish they could be Americans. None of that would have been possible without our history, our story, the American story. I choose not to hide, not to run from that history, but to remember it, to celebrate who we are as Americans today because of where we have been and where we have come.

I know my country has not perfected itself. At times, we've struggled to keep the promise of liberty and equality for all of our people. We've made our share of mistakes, and there are times when our actions around the world have not lived up to our best intentions. But I also know how much I love America. I know that for more than two centuries, we have strived - at great cost and great sacrifice - to form a more perfect union; to seek, with other nations, a more hopeful world. Our allegiance has never been to any particular tribe or kingdom - indeed, every language is spoken in our country; every culture has left its imprint on ours; every point of view is expressed in our public squares. What has always united us - what has always driven our people; what drew my father to America's shores - is a set of ideals that speak to aspirations shared by all people: that we can live free from fear and free from want; that we can speak our minds and assemble with whomever we choose and worship as we please. These are the aspirations that joined the fates of all nations in this city. These aspirations are bigger than anything that drives us apart.

It may not therefore be unseasonable to recommend to this present Generation the Practice of that Virtue, for which their Ancestors were particularly famous, and which is called The Love of one's Country. This Love to our Country, as a moral Virtue, is a fixed Disposition of Mind to promote the Safety; Welfare, and Reputation of the Community in which we are born, and of the Constitution under which we are protected