Patriotism Quotes

Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel. Samuel Johnson

Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all others because you were born in it. George Bernard Shaw

He loves his country best who strives to make it best. Robert G Ingersoll

Men love their country, not because it is great, but because it is their own. Seneca

Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first. Charles de Gaulle

Patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime. Adlai Stevenson

Patriotism has served, at different times, as widely different ends as a razor, which ought to be used in keeping your face clean and yet may be used to cut your own throat or that of an innocent person. C. E. Montague

Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism. George Washington

A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government. Edward Abbey

Our country is not the only thing to which we owe our allegiance. It is also owed to justice and to humanity. Patriotism consists not in waving the flag, but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong. James Bryce

And so I could feel, on the campaign trail, not just the great rushing joy of politics but the deeper joy of patriotism. This is a wonderful feeling, I think the most important feeling in a democracy. Arnold Schwarzenegger

It is lamentable that to be a good patriot we must become the enemy of the rest of mankind. Voltaire

A politician will do anything to keep his job – even become a patriot. William Randolph Hearst

The man who loves other countries as much as his own stands on a level with the man who loves other women as much as he loves his own wife. Theodore Roosevelt

No matter that patriotism is too often the refuge of scoundrels. Dissent, rebellion, and all-round hell-raising remain the true duty of patriots. Barbara Ehrenreich

Patriotism is a lively sense of collective responsibility. Nationalism is a silly cock crowing on its own dunghill and calling for larger spurs and brighter beaks. I fear that nationalism is one of England’s many spurious gifts to the world. Richard Aldington

Patriotism means unqualified and unwavering love for the nation, which implies not uncritical eagerness to serve, not support for unjust claims, but frank assessment of its vices and sins, and penitence for them. Alexander Solzhenitsyn

You’re not supposed to be so blind with patriotism that you can’t face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who says it. Malcolm X

Dissent is the highest form of patriotism. Thomas Jefferson

In love of home, the love of country has its rise. Charles Dickens

The difference between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does; the first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility, but the second a feeling of blind arrogance that leads to war. Sydney J Harris