P. J. O'Rourke Quotes

America wasn't founded so that we could all be better. America was founded so we could all be anything we damned well pleased.

P. J. O'Rourke

• America
• Better
• Well

• Previous
• Next

Quotes to Explore

• America is the student who defies the odds to become the first in a family to go to college - the citizen who defies the cynics and goes out there and votes - the young person who comes out of the shadows to demand the right to dream. That's what America is about.

  

  Barack Obama
  • Family
  • America
  • Dream

• The most important thing Paris gave me was a perspective on Latin America. It taught me the differences between Latin America and Europe and among the Latin American countries themselves through the Latins I met there.

  

  Gabriel Garcia Marquez
  • Important
  • American
  • America

• If you are attempting to study American history, and you don't understand the force of white supremacy, you fundamentally misunderstand America.

  

  Ta-Nehisi Coates
  • American
  • America
  • History

• Sometimes the kids come up with better endings than the real story.

  

  Gail Carson Levine
  • Up
  • Real
  • Kids

• I always wanted to be a singer, and so, when I was 5 years old, I started acting classes so I could be a better performer. I wanted to have a powerful voice so I could be heard.

  

  Q'orianka Kilcher
  • Powerful
  • Better
  • Acting

• Jamaica has problems; America has problems; everywhere has problems.

  

  Ziggy Marley
  • America
  • Problems
  • Jamaica

• The Russo brothers are the best people ever, and they cast me in 'Happy Endings.' I did text Joe Russo to say, 'I don't think my character dies, so if you need a local news cameraman to show up in 'Captain America 2'... I know it doesn't make sense, but just hear me out on this!' He was really cool about it and turned me down right away.

  

  Adam Pally
  • People
  • Up
  • Character

• The great apologist has to have lived large and wild. If he's going to kiss the world's boo-boos and make up, he'd better plant some bruises first. A master apologizer has to be a Lord Byron, a Rick in Casablanca, a Lee Atwater, anyway.

  

  P. J. O'Rourke
  • Up
  • World
  • Great

• As far as actors go, you're not going to find many ballplayers better than me.

  

  D. B. Sweeney
  • Better
  • Actors
  • Ballplayers

• Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better.

  

  Pat Riley
  • Better
  • Excellence
  • Striving

• I have been talking to a lot of people who don't normally vote Democratic - independents and Republicans. They have been voting for Democrats because they think it's important to change the direction America is going.

  

  Ted Deutch
  • People
  • Important
  • America

• I think Steve Jobs is a historic figure. He's not only a historic figure in business, but really in America.

  

  Walt Mossberg
  • Business
  • America
  • Think

• Finally, in my critique of the immigration image of America, it is also important to know that we're not only a nation of immigrants, but we are in some part a nation of emigrants, which often gets neglected.

  

  Samuel P. Huntington
  • Important
  • America
  • Know

• I don't understand anything about America's culture.

  

  P. J. O'Rourke
  • America
  • Culture
  • Understand

• We are Americans. We - we - we are - we are doctors. We are investment bankers. We are taxi drivers. We are store keepers. We are lawyers. We are - we are part of the fabric of America. And the way that America today treats its Muslims is being watched by over a billion Muslims worldwide.

  

  Feisal Abdul Rauf
  • America
  • Today
  • Lawyers

• We have the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world. 'America, land of liberty and freedom?' You know, that's baloney. More than 2 million Americans are behind bars now. Communist China has four times the population and they have 1.5 million people behind bars.

  

  Gary Johnson
  • People
  • World
  • Country

• Historically, the mobile industry has been focused on the consumer, getting better performance and throughput to their devices.

  

  Hans Vestberg
  • Better
  • Performance
  • Mobile

• What I tend to get from America is very enthusiastic letters and e-mail from librarians and schoolteachers, the gatekeepers, though I hesitate to use that word. I've never been a huge seller.

  

  Kate Thompson
  • America
  • Never
  • Enthusiastic

• After two undefeated seasons of 'Worst Cooks in America,' I'm ready for a third. Going against Bobby Flay takes the challenge to another level, but I'm ready to whip these contestants into shape and the winner is sure to be from Team Burrell.

  

  Anne Burrell
  • America
  • Team
  • Challenge

• If we drill the hell out of everything, including protected public lands and fragile regions like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, America can emerge as an 'energy superpower.'

  

  Jeff Goodell
  • America
  • Energy

• I, like most of my friends, couldn't believe I bought a mountain called Misery Mountain, because it was so appropriate.

  

  Caleb Carr
  • Believe
  • Friends
  • Mountain

• I was in New York doing musicals in the theater and on Broadway before 'Orange,' so people always ask, 'Are you ever going to get to sing? Does she even sing?' But people who know me know I actually do sing.

  

  Uzo Aduba
  • People
  • Know
  • Theater

• Troubled heart you'll know, problems have solutions, trust and I will show.

  

  Stevie Wonder
  • Heart
  • Trust
  • Problems

• America wasn't founded so that we could all be better. America was founded so we could all be anything we damned well pleased.

  

  P. J. O'Rourke
  • America
  • Better
  • Well