The notion of patriotism has been written and analysed in various cultural books, novels and articles. On one hand, patriotism is used to refer to the love and dreams that one has for his / her country; on the other hand, it has been used to refer to the nationalistic rise which leads to intolerance, a static view of culture and an exclusive attachment to one’s nation. To understand the difference between patriotism and nationalism, one must read the quote of de Gaulles who stated that:
Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first.
As the history of Fascism, Nazism or the ethnic cleaning show, patriotism as nationalism always lead to catastrophe and consequences. Such kind of patriotism is confined to thinking narrowly and to view one’s culture and religion as static, but superior, as George Bernard Shaw pointed out:
Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it.
Top Quotes about Patriotism
My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.
– John F. Kennedy
I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.
– James Baldwin
Patriotism consists not in waving the flag, but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong.
– James Bryce
It was patriotism, not communism, that inspired me.
– Ho Chi Minh
Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.
– Howard Zinn
The average American is nothing if not patriotic.
– Herbert Croly
Patriotism is a kind of religion; it is the egg from which wars are hatched.
– Guy de Maupassant
A man’s country is not a certain area of land, of mountains, rivers, and woods, but it is a principle and patriotism is loyalty to that principle.
– George William Curtis
Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.
– George Washington
Patriotism is often an arbitrary veneration of real estate above principles.
– George Jean Nathan
I’m an advocate of the great Dr. Johnson, the English man of letters who said that patriotism was the last refuge of the scoundrel.
– George Galloway
Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all others because you were born in it.
– George Bernard Shaw
I have no country to fight for; my country is the earth, and I am a citizen of the world.
– Eugene V. Debs
I realize that patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone.
– Edith Cavell
I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world.
– Diogenes
137 years later, Memorial Day remains one of America’s most cherished patriotic observances. The spirit of this day has not changed – it remains a day to honor those who died defending our freedom and democracy.
– Doc Hastings
Each nation feels superior to other nations. That breeds patriotism – and wars.
– Dale Carnegie
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 easy to understand in America. It means looking out for yourself by looking out for your country.
– Calvin Coolidge
I have long believed that sacrifice is the pinnacle of patriotism.
– Bob Riley
Can anything be stupider than that a man has the right to kill me because he lives on the other side of a river and his ruler has a quarrel with mine, though I have not quarrelled with him?
– Blaise Pascal
A real patriot is the fellow who gets a parking ticket and rejoices that the system works.
– Bill Vaughan
Patriotism is the willingness to kill and be killed for trivial reasons.
– Bertrand Russell
It is not easy to see how the more extreme forms of nationalism can long survive when men have seen the Earth in its true perspective as a single small globe against the stars.
– Arthur C. Clarke
No matter that patriotism is too often the refuge of scoundrels. Dissent, rebellion, and all-around hell-raising remain the true duty of patriots.
– Barbara Ehrenreich
It is the patriotic duty of every man to lie for his country.
– Alfred Adler
Patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.
– Adlai E. Stevenson
Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism – how passionately I hate them!
– Albert Einstein
Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind.
– Albert Einstein
On what rests the hope of the republic? One country, one language, one flag!
– Alexander Henry
Such then is the human condition, that to wish greatness for one
– Voltaire
Yet some can be patriotic who have no self-respect, and sacrifice the greater to the less. They love the soil which makes their graves, but have no sympathy with the spirit which may still animate their clay. Patriotism is a maggot in their heads.
– Henry David Thoreau
“My country, right or wrong,” is a thing that no patriot would think of saying except in a desperate case. It is like saying, “My mother, drunk or sober.”
– G.K. Chesterton
Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it.
– George Bernard Shaw
Patriotism is a pernicious, psychopathic form of idiocy.
– George Bernard Shaw
When I am abroad I always make it a rule never to criticize or attack the Government of my country. I make up for lost time when I am at home.
It is the patriotic duty of every man to lie for his country.
– Alfred Adler