Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
Disagreeing with the government is a form of loyalty, not disloyalty.
In plain terms
You can oppose your government and still be loyal to your country.
What can you take from it?
Accept dissent as a necessary part of a healthy nation.

Where it applies

  • political debate
  • civil rights
  • governance

Putting it to work

  • respect opposing views
  • protect free speech

Questions to consider

  • When does criticism become disloyalty?
  • Is dissent healthy now?

Another view

Extreme dissent can sometimes cross into actual disloyalty.

More from Edward R. Murrow

  1. To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; credible we must be truthful.

    Permalink to quote #63
  2. When the politicians complain that TV turns the proceedings into a circus, it should be made clear that the circus was already there, and that TV has merely de…

    Permalink to quote #65
  3. People say conversation is a lost art; how often I have wished it were.

    Permalink to quote #62

Related quotes

  1. 'If our democracy is to flourish, it must have criticism; if our government is to function it must have dissent.'

    Henry Steele CommagerHenry Steele Commager quote #3
  2. We know that most people's intentions are good. We don't question their motives, we've never said they're unpatriotic. Although they say some pretty ugly thing…

    Lyndon JohnsonLyndon Johnson quote #6
  3. If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one perso…

    John Stuart MillJohn Stuart Mill quote #19