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96 Happy 4th of July Quotes & Captions to Celebrate Independence Day

Break up the barbecue games with quotes from the nation's most influential figures.

border collie dog running along the beach carrying the American flag.
Leigh Prather/Shutterstock

Looking for ways to entertain your guests on Independence Day? Liven up the festivities with these 4th of July quotes! Enjoy contributions from historical political figures and modern icons regarding America's independence. If nothing else, they provide plenty of material for toasts, roasts, Instagram captions, and everything in between.

RELATED: 30 Major Events That Also Happened on July Fourth.


Funny 4th of July Quotes

\u00a0"If our Founding Fathers wanted us to care about the rest of the world, they wouldn't have declared their independence from it." \u2014\u00a0Stephen ColbertBest Life

  1. "When you're born, you get a ticket to the freak show. When you're born in America, you get a front-row seat." — George Carlin
  2. "If our Founding Fathers wanted us to care about the rest of the world, they wouldn't have declared their independence from it." — Stephen Colbert
  3. "All people are born alike. Except Republicans and Democrats." — Groucho Marx
  4. "It's Fourth of July weekend, or, as I call it, Exploding Christmas." — Stephen Colbert
  5. "I normally don't have a burger, a brat, and a steak but… it's 4th of July. And I need the energy if I'm gonna start blowing crap up. It's what the founding fathers would want." — Jim Gaffigan
  6. "A real patriot is the fellow who gets a parking ticket and rejoices that the system works." — Bill Vaughan
  7. “Oh my god, you look like the Fourth of July! Makes me want a hot dog real bad.” — Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde
  8. "The United States is the only country with a known birthday." — James G. Blaine
  9. "Happy 4th of July! Drink until you see stars… and stripes!" — Unknown
  10. "If I have to lay an egg for my country, I'll do it." — Bob Hope
  11. “Today is the 4th of July, when we honor the day that Uncle Sam chopped down Benedict Arnold at the Alamo. Happy hot dogs!” — Stephen Colbert
  12. "I always have the most fun on the Fourth of July. You don't have to exchange any gifts. You just go to the beach and watch fireworks." —​ James Lafferty
  13. "There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America." — Bill Clinton
  14. "What brings us together as Americans is so much stronger than anything that can tear us apart." — Joe Biden
  15. "Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty." — John F. Kennedy
  16. "Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." — Abraham Lincoln
  17. "Freedom is the open window through which pours the sunlight of the human spirit and human dignity." — Herbert Hoover
  18. "In the face of impossible odds, people who love their country can change it." — Barack Obama
  19. "If we ever forget that we are one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under." — Ronald Reagan
  20. "In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved." — Franklin D. Roosevelt
  21. "If the freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter." — George Washington
  22. "America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination, and on unbeatable determination to do the job at hand." — Harry S. Truman
  23. "Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men, and so it must be daily earned and refreshed—else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die." — Dwight D. Eisenhower
  24. "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." — Thomas Jefferson
  25. "Your love of liberty, your respect for the laws, your habits of industry, and your practice of the moral and religious obligations, are the strongest claims to national and individual happiness." — George Washington
  26. "America is a nation with a mission—and that mission comes from our most basic beliefs. We have no desire to dominate, no ambitions of empire. Our aim is a democratic peace—a peace founded upon the dignity and rights of every man and woman." — George W. Bush
  27. "I would rather belong to a poor nation that was free than to a rich nation that had ceased to be in love with liberty." — Woodrow Wilson
  28. "What does the flag mean? It is the flag just as much of the man who was naturalized yesterday as of the man whose people have been here generations." — Henry Cabot Lodge
  29. "This land is your land, this land is my land." ⁠— Woody Guthrie
  30. "We are a country where people of all backgrounds, all nations of origin, all languages, all religions, all races, can make a home. America was built by immigrants." ⁠— Hillary Clinton
  31. "Everywhere immigrants have enriched and strengthened the fabric of American life."⁠ — John F. Kennedy
  32. "The essence of America that which really unites us, is not ethnicity or nationality or religion. It is an idea, and what an idea it isthat you can come from humble circumstances and do great things." — Condoleezza Rice
  33. “My father described this tall lady who stands in the middle of the New York harbour, holding high a torch to welcome people seeking freedom in America. I instantly fell in love.” — Yakov Smirnoff
  34. "Remember, remember always, that all of us, you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists." —Franklin D. Roosevelt
  35. "People come here penniless but not culture-less. They bring us gifts. We can synthesize the best of our traditions with the best of theirs. We can teach and learn from each other to produce a better America…" — Mary Pipher
  36. "I've always argued that this country has benefited immensely from the fact that we draw people from all over the world." — Alan Greenspan
  37. "America is known as a country that welcomes people to its shores. All kinds of people." — Ruth Bader Ginsburg
  38. "We on this continent should never forget that men first crossed the Atlantic not to find soil for their plows but to secure liberty for their souls." — Robert J. McCracken
  39. "We will never have true civilization until we have learned to recognize the rights of others." — Will Rogers
  40. "One characteristic of Americans is that they have no tolerance at all of anybody putting up with anything. We believe that whatever is going wrong ought to be fixed." — Margaret Mead
  41. "This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a good place for all of us to live in." — Theodore Roosevelt
  42. People in power are trying to convince us that the villain in our American story is each other. But that is not our story. That is not who we are. That's not our America. Our United States of America is not about us versus them. It's about we the people." — Camila Alves
  43. "Intellectually I know that America is no better than any other country; emotionally I know she is better than every other country." — Sinclair Lewis
  44. "Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes." — Mahatma Gandhi
  45. "For change often seems impossible until it is inevitable. Just as we must own our lives, we must own our country. For, we, the people, are ultimately in control of the America's story." — Valerie Jarrett
  46. "Freedom lies in being bold." — Robert Frost
  47. "Dreams are the foundation of America." — Lupita Nyong'o
  48. "With freedom comes responsibility." — Eleanor Roosevelt
  49. "America is another name for opportunity." — Ralph Waldo Emerson
  50. "The life of the nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous." — Frederick Douglass
  51. “We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it.” — William Faulkner
  52. "In America, nobody says you have to keep the circumstances somebody else gives you." — Amy Tan
  53. "America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination, and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand." — Harry S. Truman
  54. "I am an American; free born and free bred, where I acknowledge no man as my superior, except for his own worth, or as my inferior, except for his own demerit." — Theodore Roosevelt
  55. "The fact is, with every friendship you make and every bond of trust you establish, you are shaping the image of America projected to the rest of the world." — Michelle Obama
  56. "What was important wasn't the fireworks, it was that we were together this evening, together in this place, looking up into the sky at the same time." — Banana Yoshimoto
  57. "You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4th, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism." — Erma Bombeck
  58. "All great change in America begins at the dinner table." — Ronald Reagan
  59. "Let us remember we are all part of one American family. We are united in common values, and that includes belief in equality under the law, basic respect for public order, and the right of peaceful protest." — Barack Obama
  60. We identify the flag with almost everything we hold dear on Earth: peace, security, liberty, our family, our friends, our home… But when we look at our flag and behold it, emblazoned with all our rights, we must remember that it is equally a symbol of our duties. Every glory that we associate with it is the result of duty done." — Calvin Coolidge
  61. "America is a tune. It must be sung together." — Gerald Stanley Lee
  62. "Patriotism comes from the heart. Patriotism is voluntary… A patriot shows their patriotism through their actions, by their choice." — Jesse Ventura
  63. "Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it." — Mark Twain
  64. “Liberty is the breath of life to nations.” — George Bernard Shaw
  65. "I think patriotism is like charity; it begins at home." — Henry James
  66. "The patriot's blood is the seed of freedom's tree." — Thomas Campbell
  67. "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." — John F. Kennedy
  68. “This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.” — Elmer Davis
  69. "One flag, one land. One heart, one hand. One nation, evermore." — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
  70. “Where liberty dwells, there is my country.” — Benjamin Franklin
  71. "The most fatal thing a man can do is try to stand alone." — Carson McCullers
  72. "Ours is the only country deliberately founded on a good idea." — John Gunther
  73. "Patriotism consists not in waving the flag, but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong." — James Bryce
  74. "Patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime." — Adlai Stevenson II
  75. "Patriotism is easy to understand in America. It means looking out for yourself by looking out for your country." — Calvin Coolidge
  76. "We can't all be Washingtons, but we can all be patriots." — Charles F. Browne
  77. "Vigor of government is essential to the security of liberty." — Alexander Hamilton
  78. "Then join hand in hand, brave Americans all! By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall." — John Dickinson
  79. "I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death"— Patrick Henry
  80. "I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure it will cost us to maintain this declaration and support and defend these states. Yet through all the gloom, I see the rays of ravishing light and glory. I can see that the end is worth all the means. This is our day of deliverance." — John Adams
  81. "The circulation of confidence is better than the circulation of money." — James Madison
  82. "The best thing to give to your enemy is forgiveness; to an opponent, tolerance; to a friend, your heart; to your child, a good example; to a father, deference; to your mother, conduct that will make her proud of you; to yourself, respect; to all others, charity." — Benjamin Franklin
  83. "Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude." — Thomas Jefferson
  84. "Always stand on principle… even if you stand alone." — John Adams
  85. "The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders are no more. I Am Not A Virginian, But An American!" — Patrick Henry
  86. "Ambition must be made to counteract ambition." — James Madison
  87. Stars & Stripes
  88. Yankee Doodle
  89. Hbd America
  90. Let freedom ring
  91. Bold stripes, bright stars, brave hearts
  92. It's lit
  93. Baby, you're a firework
  94. Sparkle like it's 1776
  95. Young, wild, and free
  96. My favorite color is Freedom

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4th of July Quotes From Presidents

"Freedom is the open window through which pours the sunlight of the human spirit and human dignity." \u2014 Herbert HooverBest Life

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    4th of July Quotes About Immigrants

    "We are a country where people of all backgrounds, all nations of origin, all languages, all religions, all races, can make a home. America was built by immigrants." \u2060\u2014\u00a0Hillary ClintonBest Life

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      Inspirational 4th of July Quotes

      "This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a good place for all of us to live in." \u2014\u00a0Theodore RooseveltxBest Life

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        Fourth of July Quotes About Family

        "Let us remember we are all part of one American family. We are united in common values, and that includes belief in equality under the law, basic respect for public order, and the right of peaceful protest." \u2014\u00a0Barack ObamaBest Life

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          Short Patriotic Quotes

          \u201cLiberty is the breath of life to nations.\u201d \u2014 George Bernard ShawBest Life

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            Founding Fathers 4th of July Quotes

            "I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death." \u2014\u00a0Patrick HenryBest Life

              4th of July Instagram Captions for Your Next Social Media Post

                FAQ

                Why does America celebrate the 4th of July?

                Americans celebrate the 4th of July to honor the signing of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. The event solidified the country's separation from Great Britain and marked the birth of American independence.

                What do you say to Americans on Independence Day?

                There are lots of ways to greet Americans on the 4th of July. Some of the most common sayings include:

                • Happy Fourth of July
                • Happy Independence Day
                • God Bless America
                • Home of the Brave
                • Family, Freedom, and Fireworks
                • Happy 4th of July
                • Proud to be an American
                • Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness