To put it in rude, plain, unpalatable words - true patriotism, real patriotism: loyalty not to a Family and a Fiction, but a loyalty to the Nation itself! ...'Remember this, take this to heart, live by it, die for it if necessary: that our patriotism is medieval, outworn, obsolete; that the modern patriotism, the true patriotism, the only rational patriotism, is loyalty to the Nation ALL the time, loyalty to the Government when it deserves it.' [Czar Nicholas II]
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- True patriotism is loyalty to the nation, not to a family or fiction; loyalty to government only when it deserves it.
- In plain terms
- Real patriotism means loving the country, not a ruling family, and supporting government only if it’s worthy.
- What can you take from it?
- Patriotism should be conditional on governmental merit.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How can citizens assess when government deserves loyalty?
- What are the risks of conditional patriotism?
Another view
It presents a binary view of loyalty.
More from Samuel Langhorne Clemens
To create man was a fine and original idea; but to add the sheep was a tautology.
Permalink to quote #41 He is a stranger to me, but he is a most remarkable man - and I am the other one. Between us, we cover all knowledge; he knows all that can be known, and I kno…
Permalink to quote #43 Always do right. This will gratify some people, and astonish the rest.
Permalink to quote #40
Related quotes
'If fascism ever comes to America, it will come wrapped in an American flag.'
Huey P. LongHuey P. Long quote #2 We decline the claim to power by parties which want to own their followers body and soul, and which want to put themselves over and above the whole nation.
Franz von PapenFranz von Papen quote #3 This is a letter of hate. It is for you my countrymen, I mean those men of my country who have defiled it. The men with manic fingers leading the sightless, fe…
John OsborneJohn Osborne quote #3