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Politics & Power Quote by Bill Frist

"America is moving forward and gaining strength. We have been tested, and we have proven ourselves to be a tough, resilient and resourceful nation"

About this Quote

“America is moving forward and gaining strength” is the kind of forward-facing political sentence that’s less about describing reality than manufacturing it. Frist, a Republican Senate leader in the 2000s, is working in a genre where mood is policy: confidence becomes a governing tool, and optimism is deployed like infrastructure. The verbs do the heavy lifting. “Moving” implies momentum, “gaining” implies measurable improvement, and both sidestep the messy questions of who benefits, what’s been lost, and what “forward” even means.

The second line tightens the emotional grip: “We have been tested.” Tested by what? War, terrorism, economic anxiety, political division, natural disaster - the phrase is deliberately elastic, a patriotic catchall that lets listeners plug in their own fear. That vagueness is strategic. It turns a specific crisis into a national rite of passage, then claims the payoff: “we have proven ourselves.” Proof here isn’t evidence; it’s affirmation. The audience is invited to feel like co-authors of a success story, even if the outcomes are contested.

“Tough, resilient and resourceful” is a triad built for applause, a rhetorical cadence that offers identity instead of argument. Subtext: criticism can be framed as weakness, and doubt as disloyalty. Contextually, this is post-shock language - the kind that aims to unify, steady markets and morale, and re-legitimize leadership by wrapping it in collective grit. It works because it offers emotional certainty when facts are still unsettled.

Quote Details

TopicResilience
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Frist, Bill. (2026, January 15). America is moving forward and gaining strength. We have been tested, and we have proven ourselves to be a tough, resilient and resourceful nation. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/america-is-moving-forward-and-gaining-strength-we-140526/

Chicago Style
Frist, Bill. "America is moving forward and gaining strength. We have been tested, and we have proven ourselves to be a tough, resilient and resourceful nation." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/america-is-moving-forward-and-gaining-strength-we-140526/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"America is moving forward and gaining strength. We have been tested, and we have proven ourselves to be a tough, resilient and resourceful nation." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/america-is-moving-forward-and-gaining-strength-we-140526/. Accessed 7 Feb. 2026.

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About the Author

Bill Frist

Bill Frist (born February 22, 1952) is a Politician from USA.

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