There are two kinds of patriotism -- monarchical patriotism and republican patriotism. In the one case the government and the king may rightfully furnish you their notions of patriotism; in the other, neither the government nor the entire nation is privileged to dictate to any individual what the form of his patriotism shall be. The gospel of the monarchical patriotism is: "The King can do no wrong." We have adopted it with all its servility, with an unimportant change in the wording: "Our country, right or wrong! " We have thrown away the most valuable asset we had:-- the individual's right to oppose both flag and country when he (just he, by himself) believed them to be in the wrong. We have thrown it away; and with it all that was really respectable about that grotesque and laughable word, Patriotism. . Mark Twain
Some Similar Quotes
  1. They say that patriotism is the last refuge to which a scoundrel clings steal a little and they throw you in jail. Steal a lot and then they make you king. - Bob Dylan
  2. A regime that wraps itself in the flag of truth fears truth most of all, for if its story is falsified to the slightest degree, its authority is gone. - Orson Scott Card
  3. They wrote in the old days that it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country. But in modern war, there is nothing sweet nor fitting in your dying. You will die like a dog for no good reason. - Ernest Hemingway
  4. A love for tradition has never weakened a nation, indeed it has strengthened nations in their hour of peril. - Winston S. Churchill
  5. What struck me as I began to study history was how nationalist fervor--inculcated from childhood on by pledges of allegiance, national anthems, flags waving and rhetoric blowing--permeated the educational systems of all countries, including our own. I wonder now how the foreign policies of the... - Howard Zinn
More Quotes By Mark Twain
  1. After all these years, I see that I was mistaken about Eve in the beginning; it is better to live outside the Garden with her than inside it without her.
  2. When you fish for love, bait with your heart, not your brain.
  3. Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.
  4. The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.
  5. Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone you may still exist, but you have ceased to live.
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