Patriotism - Quotes

A great deal of what passes by the name of patriotism in these days consists of the merest bigotry and narrow-mindedness; exhibiting itself in national prejudice, national conceit, and national hatred. It does not show itself in deeds, but in boastings – in howlings, gesticulations, and shrieking helplessly for help – in flying flags and singing songs – and in perpetual grinding at the hurdy-gurdy of long-dead grievances and long-remedied wrongs. To be infested by such a patriotism as this is perhaps among the greatest curses that can befall any country. - Samuel smiles

A man doesn't have to agree with his government to be a patriot, does he? It takes a true patriot to dissent, to say he loves his country more than he cares for his own place in the social order. - Cassandra Clare

A thoughtful mind, when it sees a Nation’s flag, sees not the flag only, but the Nation itself; and whatever may be its symbols, its insignia, he reads chiefly in the flag the Government, the principles, the truths, the history which belongs to the Nation that sets it forth. - Henry Ward Beecher All nations teach their children to be "patriotic", and abuse the other nations for fostering nationalism. - Richard Aldington

Each man must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, which course is patriotic and which isn’t. You cannot shirk this and be a man. - Thomas Tusser

Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism. - George Washington

He is a poor patriot whose patriotism does not enable him to understand how all men everywhere feel about their altars and their hearthstones, their flag and their fatherland. - Harry Emerson Fosdick

I have long believed that sacrifice is the pinnacle of patriotism. - Bob Riley

I think patriotism is like charity – it begins at home. - Henry James

I’ve never really understood national pride, or even ethnic pride. It should be more about pride at being a human and living on this planet with fellow humans surely, let’s widen the parameters a bit - Robert Breeze

If patriotism were defined, not as blind obedience to government, nor as submissive worship to flags and anthems, but rather as love of one's country, one's fellow citizens (all over the world), as loyalty to the principles of justice and democracy, then patriotism would require us to disobey our government, when it violated those principles. - Howard Zinn

One question in my mind, which I hardly dare mention in public, is whether patriotism has, overall, been a force for good or evil in the world. Patriotism is rampant in war and there are some good things about it. Just as self-respect and pride bring out the best in an individual, pride in family, pride in teammates, pride in hometown bring out the best in groups of people. War brings out the kind of pride in country that encourages its citizens in the direction of excellence and it encourages them to be ready to die for it. At no time do people work so well together to achieve the same goal as they do in wartime. Maybe that's enough to make patriotism eligible to be considered a virtue. If only I could get out of my mind the most patriotic people who ever lived, the Nazi Germans. - Andy Rooney

Our obligations to our country never cease but with our lives. - John Adams

Part of the problem with extreme patriotism is that it makes the support of one's country and its policies unconditional. Moderate patriots, on the other hand, see that taking morality seriously requires that our commitment to our country be conditional in two ways. First, the actions or policies of a government must be worthy of support or, at least, must not be serious violations of morality. When nations behave immorally, patriots need not support them. - Stephen Nathanson

Patriotism in its simplest, clearest, and most undoubted meaning is for rulers nothing else but a means of realizing their ambitions and venal ends; for the governed it is a renouncing of human dignity, intelligence, and conscience, and a slavish submission to the rulers. Wherever patriotism is championed, it is preached invariably in that shape. Patriotism is slavery. - Leo Tolstoy

Patriotism is a lively sense of collective responsibility. Nationalism is a silly cock crowing on its own dunghill and calling for larger spurs and brighter beaks. - Richard Aldington

Patriotism is a thing of the heart. A man is a patriot if his heart beats true to his country. - Charles E. Jefferson

Patriotism is easy to understand.... It means looking out for yourself by looking out for your country. - Calvin Coolidge

Patriotism is like religion – it is best when least ostentatious. - Charles E. Jefferson

Patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime. - Adlai Stevenson

Patriotism is proud of a country’s virtues and eager to correct its deficiencies; it also acknowledges the legitimate patriotism of other countries, with their own specific virtues. The pride of nationalism, however, trumpets its country’s virtues and denies its deficiencies, while it is contemptuous toward the virtues of other countries. It wants to be, and proclaims itself to be, “the greatest,” but greatness is not required of a country; only goodness is. - Sydney J. Harris

Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it. - Mark Twain

Patriotism is the admission that people who share a land, a place, and a history have a special obligation to that place and to each other. - David Ehrenfeld

Patriotism is the opposite of selfish individualism. - David Ehrenfeld

Patriotism: Your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it. - George Bernard Shaw

Take patriotism away, and the nation's soul has fled. - Edward Mark Deems

The essence of patriotism is the sacrifice of personal interest to public welfare. - William H. Burnham

There are no points of the compass on the chart of true patriotism. - Robert Charles Winthrop

There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people. - Howard Zinn

There is no greater sign of a general decay of virtue in a nation, than a want of zeal in its inhabitants for the good of their country. - Joseph Addison

They wrote in the old days that it is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country. But in modern war, there is nothing sweet nor fitting in your dying. You will die like a dog for no good reason. - Ernest Hemingway

Those who love their country never wish to rule it. - Abraham Miller

True patriotism is quiet, simple, dignified; it is not blatant, verbose, vociferous. The noisy shriekers who go about with a chip on their shoulders and cry aloud for war upon the slightest provocation belong to the class contemptuously known as "Jingoes." They may be patriotic – and as a fact they often are – but their patriotism is too frothy, too hysteric, too unintelligent, to inspire confidence. True patriotism is not swift to resent an insult; on the contrary, it is slow to take offense, slow to believe that an insult could have been intended. True patriotism, believing fully in the honesty of its own acts, assumes also that others are acting with the same honesty. True patriotism, having a solid pride in the power and resources of our country, doubts always the likelihood of any other nation being willing to arouse our enmity. - Maurice Garland Fulton

We’re being sold a brand new idea of patriotism. It never occurred to me that patriotism had to be advertised. Patriotism is something you deeply felt. You didn’t have to wear it on your lapel or show it in your window or on a bumper sticker. That kind of patriotism does not appeal to me at all. - Sam Shepard

Would the world be in the mess it is if we were loyal to love and not to countries? - Graham Greene

You're not supposed to be so blind with patriotism that you can't face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or says it. - Malcom X