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."
Read more about American Dream: History, Literature, Political Leaders, Public Opinion, The Four Dreams of Consumerism, Ethnics, Literary Commentary, Other Parts of The World
Famous quotes containing the words american and/or dream:
“I’m not an American hero. I’m a person that loves children.”
—Clara Mcbride Hale (1905–1992)
“He will perceive that there are far more excellent qualities in the student than preciseness and infallibility; that a guess is often more fruitful than an indisputable affirmation, and that a dream may let us deeper into the secret of nature than a hundred concerted experimenters.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)