G. K. Chesterton on patriotism

The first two facts which a healthy boy or girl feels about sex are these: first that it is beautiful and then that it is dangerous.

The Declaration of Independence dogmatically bases all rights on the fact that God created all men equal; and it is right; for if they were not created equal, they were certainly evolved unequal. There is no basis for democracy except in a dogma about the divine origin of man.

A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author.

Ask not what your country can do for you⁠—ask what you can do for your country.

John F. Kennedy1917–1963John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address (1961)

Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious.

Oscar Wilde1854–1900

I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.

Winston Churchill1874–1965Speech in the House of Commons, after taking office as Prime Minister (13 May 1940)