When you’re in doubt and think that you can’t achieve your goals, browse through these American dream quotes to be reminded that every one of us can fulfill our goals!
It’s hard to think that you can reach your dreams, especially if you were exposed to cruelty and discrimination at an early age.
You may doubt your capacity to succeed for various reasons like social status and influence. Perhaps this is because the moment we came into this world, we witnessed how those in power control society.
Our world favors the rich, successful, and famous. This makes us lose all hope in our dreams and goals. But, success isn’t about influence; it’s about being brave enough to grab opportunities presented to us.
This is where the idea of the American dream came to be. It lights up the fire of hope inside us and allows us to dream bigger dreams. So, if you’re curious about the American dream, read through the quotes we’ve compiled below!
Let’s begin.
And don’t forget to check out these America quotes and dream quotes.
Best American Dream Quotes
1. “To realize the American dream, the most important thing to understand is that it belongs to everybody. It’s a human dream. If you understand this and work very hard, it is possible.” – Cristina Saralegui
2. “The road to success is not easy to navigate, but with hard work, drive and passion, it’s possible to achieve the American dream.” – Tommy Hilfiger
3. “I think the American dream says that anything can happen if you work hard enough at it and are persistent, and have some ability. The sky is the limit to what you can build, and what can happen to you and your family.” – Sanford I. Weill
4. “I define the American dream as the ability to imagine a way that you want your life to turn out, and have a reasonable hope that you can achieve that.” – David Henry Hwang
5. “I am the American dream. I am the epitome of what the American dream basically said. It said you could come from anywhere and be anything you want in this country. That’s exactly what I’ve done.” – Whoopi Goldberg
6. “The American dream. Those three short, simple words encompass the hopes and aspirations of all the people on earth. The words are not only short and simple. They are also fragile.” – Ross Perot
7. “The American dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.” – James Truslow Adams
8. “The American dream has always been about chasing opportunity and pursuing a brighter future for ourselves and our children.” – Jay Inslee
9. “The American dream, to me, means having the opportunity to achieve because I don’t think you should be guaranteed anything other than opportunity.” – Lenny Wilkens
Famous Quotes on the American Dream
10. “The American dream is a term that is often used but also often misunderstood. It isn’t really about becoming rich or famous. It is about things much simpler and more fundamental than that.” – Mark Rubio
11. “The American dream of rags to riches is a dream for a reason. It is hard to achieve—was everyone to do it, it wouldn’t be a dream but would rather be reality.” – Robert Fulton
12. “That’s why they call it the American dream because you have to be asleep to believe it.” – George Carlin
13. “If there is still an American dream, reading is one of the bootstraps by which we can all pull ourselves up.” – Karin Slaughter
14. “The American dream is one of success, homeownership, college education for one’s children, and have a secure job to provide these and other goals.” – Leonard Boswell
15. “American dreams are strongest in the hearts of those who have seen America only in their dreams.” – Pico Iyer
16. “The American dream belongs to all of us.” – Kamala Harris
17. “Barack knows the American dream because he’s lived it, and he wants everyone in this country to have that same opportunity, no matter who we are or where we’re from or what we look like or who we love.” – Michelle Obama
American Dream Quotes That Capture Its Essence
18. “Every human being has a dream. I think what’s special about the American dream is that it implies, given everything that’s happened with the history of America, that there is the opportunity to make your dream come true.” – Audra McDonald
19. “The American dream comes from opportunity. The opportunity comes from our founding principles, our core values that are held together and protected by the Constitution. Those ideas are neither Republican, Democrat, Conservative, Liberal, White, or Black. Those are American ideologies.” – Ted Yoho
20. “The American dream may be slipping away. We have overcome such challenges before. To recover the dream requires knowing where it came from, how it lasted so long, and why it matters so much.” – Jon Meacham
21. “The American dream is still alive out there, and hard work will get you there. You don’t necessarily need to have an Ivy League education or to have millions of dollars of startup money. It can be done with an idea, hard work, and determination.” – Bill Rancic
22. “The American dream is a phrase we’ll have to wrestle with all our lives. It means a lot of things to different people. I think we’re redefining it now.” – Rita Dove
23. “The American dream is not that every man must be level with every other man. The American dream is that every man must be free to become whatever God intends he should become.” – Ronald Reagan
24. “To me, the American dream is being able to follow your own personal calling. To be able to do what you want to do is incredible freedom.” – Maya Lin
25. “In the end, the American dream is not a sprint or even a marathon, but a relay. Our families don’t always cross the finish line in the span of one generation. But each generation passes on to the next the fruits of their labor.” – Julian Castro
American Dream Quotes to Remember the Country’s Greatness
26. “This is the city of dreamers, and time and again it’s the place where the greatest dream of all, the American dream, has been tested and has triumphed.” – Michael Bloomberg
27. “The American dream is not the nation’s promise of opportunity based on one’s ability and hard work alone. Instead, it is the uniquely American ability to believe, despite all evidence to the contrary, that the nation will one day be willing to offer such opportunity.” – Blair Bronwyn
28. “We call that the American dream, but in fact, it’s a universal dream of a better life that people have all over the world. It is a reminder that every country in the world has rich people. What makes America special is that we have millions and millions of people that are not rich, that through hard work and perseverance are able to be successful.” – Marco Rubio
29. “They don’t call it the Italian dream or the English dream. In America, there is the American dream. It was the first place to give people of any social background their dream. You can achieve anything.” – Fabio Lanzoni
American Dream Quotes That’ll Encourage You to Fight for Your Goals
30. “The American dream is that any man or woman, despite of his or her background, can change their circumstances and rise as high as they are willing to work.” – Fabrizio Moreira
31. “And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.” – Martin Luther King Jr
32. “If America had a motto, it would be, pull yourself up by the bootstraps, work harder than the next guy, have a goal and achieve it.” – John Lee Hancock
33. “In a way, JFK was the high point of the American dream. In order to go to the moon and back, all we did was say we could—and we did.” – Richard Dreyfuss
34. “There are those, I know, who will reply that the liberation of humanity, the freedom of man and mind, is nothing but a dream. They are right. It is. It is the American dream.” – Archibald MacLeish
35. “Get off your bottom and be the stand, and do the work you can to pursue the American dream for yourself, and help others to do the same.” – David Pratt
American Dream Quotes That Put Emphasis on Equality and Fairness
36. “When it comes to the American dream, no one has a corner on the market. All of us have an equal chance to share in that dream.” – J. C. Watts
37. “As an educator, I have always striven to see that the fruits of the American dream are available to all.” – James D. Watson
38. “The American dream I believe in is one that provides anyone willing to work hard enough with the opportunity to succeed.” – Tammy Duckworth
39. “What is the American dream? The American dream is one big tent. One big tent. And in that big tent, you have four basic promises—equal protection under the law, equal opportunity, equal access, and fair share.” – Jesse Jackson
40. “The promise of the American dream requires that we are all provided an equal opportunity to participate in and contribute to our nation.” – Charles B. Rangel
American Dream Quotes That’ll Push You to Pursue Your Aspirations
41. “What I love about America is not necessarily the American dream but the fact that there’s so much spirit of fighting to continue to dream once the dreams are broken.” – Chloe Zhao
42. “You cannot give up on the American dream. We cannot allow our fears and our disappointments to lead us into silence and into inaction.” – Marco Rubio
43. “We believe in the American dream, not in the socialist nightmare.” – Donald Trump
44. “Everybody has dreams. You are living the American dream; what’s wrong with pushing to secure it for everyone?” – Bob Ross
American Dream Quotes That’ll Remind You That You Can Accomplish Anything
45. “I’m gonna fight, and I’m gonna make something out of nothing. That’s pretty much the American dream.” – Jay-Z
46. “I lived the true American dream. Because I was able to pursue what I set as my goals at a very young age.” – Mario Andretti
47. “Only in America can someone start with nothing and achieve the American dream. That’s the greatness of this country.” – Rafael Cruz
Interesting American Dream Quotes for All Citizens
48. “Our workforce and our entire economy are strongest when we embrace diversity to its fullest, and that means opening doors of opportunity to everyone and recognizing that the American dream excludes no one.” – Thomas Perez
49. “The American dream is a constant reminder that America’s true nature and distinctive grandeur is in promising the common man, the man on the make, a better chance to succeed here than common men enjoy anywhere else on earth.” – Cal Jillson
50. “When we make college more affordable, we make the American dream more achievable.” – William J. Clinton
51. “The real American dream is not about a garage full of new cars, winning the lottery, or retiring to a life of ease in Florida. It’s about doing work that has meaning, work that makes a difference, and doing that work with people you care about.” – Joe Tye
52. “I am living proof that the American dream still exists. It is still alive and well. There is only one trick, you have to be willing to roll up your sleeves and work very, very hard.” – Paula Deen
53. “Free market capitalism is far more than economic theory. It is the engine of social mobility—the highway to the American dream.” – George W. Bush
More Quotes on the American Dream
54. “From the very beginning, the American dream meant proving to all mankind that freedom, justice, human rights, and democracy were no utopia but were rather the most realistic policy there is and the most likely to improve the fate of each and every person.” – Nicolas Sarkozy
55. “I wanted to give people the ability once again to realize that they can still dream, but it has to be a new American dream that’s based on honesty, integrity, and security. A dream that allows you to sleep at night, a dream that is attainable and allows you to stand in your truth.” – Suze Orman
56. “The new American dream is about having an interesting life, not making a lot of money.” – Penelope Trunk
57. “The American dream is one of the greatest ideas in the history of human achievement.” – Dan Rather
58. “We need to remain a nation that doesn’t just welcome but that celebrates legal immigrants who come here seeking to pursue the American dream.” – Ted Cruz
59. “We must stop talking about the American dream and start listening to the dreams of Americans.” – Max Beerbohm
60. “For many, the American dream has become a nightmare.” – Bernie Sanders
Did This Collection Inspire You to Believe That You Can Achieve Everything You Aim For?
When we dream, we often think of the challenges that lie ahead. Our fears control us and hold us back from making an effort to achieve more.
Instead of living in our fears, we should be inspired by the American dream and create the life we want. Don’t let the opportunity slip away from your hand; hold onto your vision and work at it with effort and perseverance.
A lot of people think that the magic of hope that lies behind the American dream has disappeared. But, on the contrary, the American dream is still alive for people who have hope and believe in its power. America will forever remain the land of opportunity for everyone who dares to put themselves out there.
So, don’t fear the risks you have to take to succeed. Remember that the spirit of the American dream lies with you, and it will mold you to become the person you need to be to reach greater heights!
