I am reading French President Nicolas Sarkozy's political memoir and policy prescription, Testimony. From his preface to the U.S. edition:

I respect the fact that in the United States it is possible for those who try hard and deserve it to get a second chance. In France and most European countries, you usually need the right diplomas to succeed in life. It also helps, if possible, to belong to the right families. Moreover, anyone who fails once -- by going bankrupt, for example -- hardly ever gets a second chance. By contrast, in the United States there are all sorts of opportunities for those who know how to seize them. Americans don't ask about the diplomas or the social origins of someone who comes up with a new idea; they just ask whether the idea's good or not. Past failures, if they're honorable ones, should be seen as an opportunity to learn, and not as a stain on one's reputation.

It's thanks to these values that American society makes possible the most impressive social advancement of any country in the world. Scientific research in the United States attracts the best researchers from around the world, who quickly become American patriots. Indeed, half the Americans who have won Nobel prizes have been immigrants. It is doubtless only in the United States that so many entrepreneurs without college degrees are among the richest citizens.