My kind of loyalty was loyalty to one's country, not to its institutions or its officeholders. The country is the real thing, the substantial thing, the eternal thing; it is the thing to watch over, and care for, and be loyal to; institutions are extraneous, they are its mere clothing, and clothing can wear out, become ragged, cease to be comfortable, cease to protect the body from winter, disease, and death.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The quote differentiates loyalty to a country from loyalty to its institutions, viewing institutions as temporary clothing that can wear out.
- In plain terms
- Love the country, not its changing institutions.
- What can you take from it?
- Patriotism should focus on the nation, not its officials.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How can we balance love for country with institutional critique?
- What defines a nation's core values?
Another view
It may undervalue the role stable stable institutions play.
More from Samuel Langhorne Clemens
The citizen who thinks he sees that the commonwealth's political clothes are worn out, and yet holds his peace and does not agitate for a new suit, is disloyal…
Permalink to quote #89 The pilgrims were human beings. Otherwise they would have acted differently. They had come a long and difficult journey, and now when the journey was nearly fi…
Permalink to quote #91 I was a-trembling, because I'd got to decide, forever, betwixt two things, and I knowed it. I studied a minute, sort of holding my breath, and then says to mys…
Permalink to quote #88
Related quotes
Governor, why wouldn't anyone want to say the Pledge of Allegiance, unless they detested their own country or were ignorant of its greatness?
Sean HannitySean Hannity quote #6 I love the things that you've given me I cherish you my dear country But sometimes I don't understand the way we play
Norah JonesNorah Jones quote #13 My kind of loyalty was loyalty to one's country, not to its institutions or its officeholders. The country is the real thing, the substantial thing, the eterna…
Mark TwainMark Twain quote #90