The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States, a set of ideals in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, and an upward social mobility achieved through hard work. In the definition of the American Dream by James Truslow Adams in 1931, "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement" regardless of social class or circumstances of birth.
The idea of the American Dream is rooted in the United States Declaration of Independence which proclaims that "all men are created equal" and that they are "endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights" including "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
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“The American Dream is really money.”
—Jill Robinson (b. 1936)
“[The ladies] must be aware that a great evil cannot for a long time, predominate, without, at least, their connivance. Silence is often as effectual an advocate in a cause as eloquence.”
—“Censor,” U.S. women’s magazine contributor. American Ladies Magazine, pp. 337-340 (August, 1828)
“A word is a bud attempting to become a twig. How can one not dream while writing? It is the pen which dreams. The blank page gives the right to dream.”
—Gaston Bachelard (1884–1962)