patriotism

1.

Patriotism. Combustible rubbish ready to the torch of any one ambitious to illuminate his name.

- Bierce, Ambrose

2.

Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism -- how passionately I hate them!

- Albert Einstein

3.

Our young people have come to look upon war as a kind of beneficent deity, which not only adds to the national honor but uplifts a nation and develops patriotism and courage. That is all true. But it is only fair, too, to let them know that the garments of the deity are filthy and that some of her influences debase and befoul a people.

- Davis, Rebecca Harding

4.

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

- James, Henry

5.

Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.

- Samuel Johnson

6.

PATRIOTISM, n. Combustible rubbish ready to the torch of any one ambitious to illuminate his name. In Dr. Johnson's famous dictionary patriotism is defined as the last resort of a scoundrel. With all due respect to an enlightened but inferior lexicographer I beg to submit that it is the first.

- Ambrose Bierce

7.

He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would fully suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at command, senseless brutality, deplorable patriotism, how violently I hate all this, how despicable and ignoble war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be part of so base an action! It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder.

- Albert Einstein

8.

Let America first praise mediocrity even, in her children, before she praises... the best excellence in the children of any other land.

- Melville, Herman

9.

You will never have a quiet world until you knock the patriotism out of the human race.

- Shaw, George Bernard

10.

Everyone loathes his own country and countrymen if he is any sort of artist.

- Durrell, Lawrence

11.

Patriotism having become one of our topicks, Johnson suddenly uttered, in a strong determined tone, an apophthegm, at which many will start: "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel." But let it be considered that he did not mean a real and generous love of our country, but that pretended patriotism which so many, in all ages and countries, have made a cloak of self- interest.

- Samuel Johnson

12.

The people can always be brought to the bidding of their leaders. All you have to do is tell them that they are in danger of being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger.

- Hermann Goering

13.

I know [patriotism] exists, and I know it has done much in the present contest. But a great and lasting war can never be supported on this principle alone. It must be aided by a prospect of interest, or some reward.

- George Washington

14.

O my Brothers! love your Country. Our Country is our home, the home which God has given us, placing therein a numerous family which we love and are loved by, and with which we have a more intimate and quicker communion of feeling and thought than with others; a family which by its concentration upon a given spot, and by the homogeneous nature of its elements, is destined for a special kind of activity.

- Mazzini, Giuseppe

15.

Patriotism has its roots deep in the instincts and the affections. Love of country is the expansion of dutiful love.

- Field, D. D.

16.

It is a sweet and seemly thing to die for one's country.

- Horace

17.

What do we mean by patriotism in the context of our times? I venture to suggest that what we mean is a sense of national responsibility... a patriotism which is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.

- Stevenson, Adlai E.

18.

Nationalism is our form of incest, is our idolatry, is our insanity. Patriotism is its cult. It should hardly be necessary to say, that by patriotism I mean that attitude which puts the own nation above humanity, above the principles of truth and justice; not the loving interest in one's own nation, which is the concern with the nation's spiritual as much as with its material welfare --never with its power over other nations. Just as love for one individual which excludes the love for others is not love, love for one's country which is not part of one's love for humanity is not love, but idolatrous worship.

- Fromm, Erich

19.

Patriotism is easy to understand in America; it means looking out for yourself by looking out for your country.

- Coolidge, Calvin

20.

Many a bum show has been saved by the flag.

- Cohan, George M.