Logo - Feel The Words

Our Quotes

What belongs to all of us, and what we owe each other.

These quotes use 'our' to point at collective stakes, from expecting transparency out of government to naming the real economic cost of persistent inequality. For more on civic accountability, see Government quotes.

We spend our time searching for security and hate it when we get it.

John Steinbeck

We just can't scare our kids by living in fear.

Quotes by John Ross Bowie

Time is at once the most valuable and the most perishable of all our possessions.

Quotes by John Randolph

If you repress rather than unlock the potential of large groups of Americans, what's that going to do to our economy? It's going to contract, not expand.

Quotes by John Prendergast

It is of no use to discover our own faults and infirmities unless the discovery prompts up to amendment.

Quotes by John Quincy Adams

Protecting Afghan civilians is the cornerstone of our mission.

Quotes by John R. Allen

America will honor our treaty obligations.

Quotes by John R. Allen

Our assessment of socio-economic worth is largely a sham. We scientists should not lend ourselves to it - though we routinely do. We should, instead, insist on applying the criterion of quality.

Quotes by John Polanyi

The time has come to underscore the fact that our and others' rights are contingent on our willingness to assert and defend them.

Quotes by John Polanyi

It is not our job to apply laws that have not yet been written.

Quotes by John Paul Stevens

As part of our research, we monitor just about every announced deal globally that is in excess of a billion dollars.

Quotes by John Paulson

The industrialization of China alone would increase by 90 percent the concentration of CO2 in our atmosphere and would at least increase the atmospheric CO2 by at least another 100 parts per million.

Quotes by John Olver

Amusement is a way of boredom-avoidance through external stimulation that fails to exercise our minds. It's mere diversion.

Quotes by John Ortberg

The practical importance of the preservation of our forests is augmented by their relations to climate, soil and streams.

Quotes by John Muir

Let us be tried by our actions.

Quotes by John N. Mitchell

Our attitude toward life determines life's attitude towards us.

Quotes by John N. Mitchell

We created the hierarchical, pyramidal, managerial system because we needed it to keep track of people and things people did; with the computer to keep track, we can restructure our institutions horizontally.

Quotes by John Naisbitt

The presence of the Holy Spirit is the keystone of all our hopes.

Quotes by John Nelson Darby

Quite frankly, I'm a member of the investigative committee, one of the senior members of the panel. I don't take our investigative facts and information from a magazine or some article.

Quotes by John Mica

Our constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens.

Quotes by John Marshall Harlan

Frequently Asked Questions

What do these quotes say about accountability in government?
One quote calls for straightforward accountability: "We should be able to go to our government and get clear answers." For more on this topic, see our Government page.
Is there a quote about influential scientists?
Yes - one quote reflects on scientific legacy, noting that "Bohr's influence on the physics and the physicists of our century was stronger than that of anyone else, even than that of Albert Einstein."
Does the collection touch on how we understand nature?
One quote makes a subtle point about observation: "What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning." Browse more reflective lines in our About collection.
Is there a quote about the cost of inequality?
Yes - one quote lays out the stakes plainly, warning that inequality is "undermining our global competitiveness, our democracy, and our ideals as a nation." For more on national issues, see our Country page.
What ties these quotes together?
Each one uses "our" to point to something shared - a government, a century, a method of understanding, or a set of national ideals. Explore more in our Always section.

One line honors a physicist's outsized influence on 20th-century science, showing how the word also applies to shared intellectual history. Readers can also browse Country quotes for national identity or About quotes for broader context.