A source of quotes...

[V]

An Enlightened and Committed People Are the Most Effective Way of Preserving Liberty

            "Although all men are born free, slavery has been the general lot of the human race. Ignorant--they have been cheated; asleep--they have been surprised; divided--the yoke has been forced upon them. But what is the lesson...? The people ought to be enlightened, to be awakened, to be united, that after establishing a government they should watch over it.... It is universally admitted that a well-instructed people alone can be permanently free." --James Madison

Found here

[V]

Finally, there is a great tradition of warnings in Presidential farewells, and I've got one that's been on my mind for some time. But oddly enough it starts with one of the things I'm proudest of in the past eight years: the resurgence of national pride that I called the new patriotism. This national feeling is good, but it won't count for much, and it won't last unless it's grounded in thoughtfulness and knowledge.
      An informed patriotism is what we want. And are we doing a good enough job teaching our children what America is and what she represents in the long history of the world? Those of us who are over 35 or so years of age grew up in a different America. We were taught, very directly, what it means to be an American. And we absorbed, almost in the air, a love of country and an appreciation of its institutions. If you didn't get these things from your family you got them from the neighborhood, from the father down the street who fought in Korea or the family who lost someone at Anzio. Or you could get a sense of patriotism from school. And if all else failed you could get a sense of patriotism from the popular culture. The movies celebrated democratic values and implicitly reinforced the idea that America was special. TV was like that, too, through the mid-sixties.
     But now, we're about to enter the nineties, and some things have changed. Younger parents aren't sure an un-ambivalent appreciation of America is the right thing to teach modern children. And as for those who create the popular culture, well-grounded patriotism is no longer the style. Our spirit is back, but we haven't re-institutionalized it. We've got to do a better job of getting across that America is freedom--freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of enterprise. And freedom is special and rare. It's fragile; it needs protection.
     So, we've got to teach history based not on what's in fashion but what's important--why the Pilgrims came here.... If we forget what we did, we won't know who we are. I'm warning of an eradication of the American memory that could result, ultimately, in an erosion of the American spirit. Let's start with some basics; more attention to American history and a greater emphasis on civic ritual.

If you can't guess or don't know who said it you can find it here

A civic ritual, the once a week gathering of the training band on the town common/firing range to practice and pass on to the young'uns the tradition of great marksmanship. Attention to American History, stories of Founding Heroes told during lunch or around the campfire.

Appleseed: The Solution To What Ails You.

[eaglescouter]

To bring the quote into perspective:  The speaker is referring to people born before 1957 as those "were taught, very directly, what it means to be an American."  The rest of us "youngsters" were most likely deprived of that direct infusion of American patriotism.