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Citizenship? We have none! In place of it we teach patriotism which Samuel Johnson said a hundred and forty or a hundred and fifty years ago was the last refuge of the scoundrel -- and I believe that he was right. I remember when I was a boy and I heard repeated time and time again the phrase, 'My country, right or wrong, my country!' How absolutely absurd is such an idea. How absolutely absurd to teach this idea to the youth of the country.

Samuel Langhorne Clemens#106

PoliticsEducationPatriotismNationalism

About this quote

What does it mean?
Patriotism taught as blind loyalty is absurd and should not be imposed on youth.
In plain terms
Blind nationalism is foolish.
What can you take from it?
Encourage critical thinking about country and loyalty.

Where it applies

  • schools
  • family discussions

Putting it to work

  • teach civic responsibility
  • question slogans

Questions to consider

  • What is the line between healthy patriotism and blind loyalty?
  • How can we teach love for country without dogma?

Another view

Some argue that shared patriotism can unify societies.

More from Samuel Langhorne Clemens

  1. But the truth is, that when a Library expels a book of mine and leaves an unexpurgated Bible lying around where unprotected youth and age can get hold of it, t…

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  2. Herodotus says, 'Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest do not happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects'.

    Permalink to quote #107
  3. The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to the other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferio…

    Permalink to quote #104

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