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Quotes about patriotism

116 quotes from 83 people

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I hate the idea of causes, and if I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend I hope I should have the guts to betray my country.
E. M. Forster1879–1970What I Believe (1938)
- Friendship
You think you are dying for your country; you die for the industrialists.
Anatole France1844–1924L’Humanité (18 July 1922)
- War & Peace
A non-violent soldier of freedom will covet nothing for himself, he fights only for the freedom of his country.
Mahatma Gandhi1869–1948From the Quit India speech in Bombay, on the eve of the Quit India movement (8 August 1942)
- Freedom
Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first.
Charles de Gaulle1890–1970Attributed to de Gaulle by Romain Gary, Life, May 9, 1969
France cannot be France without greatness.
Charles de Gaulle1890–1970Mémoires de guerre (1954, 1956, 1959)
All my life, I have had a certain idea of France.
Charles de Gaulle1890–1970Mémoires de guerre (1954, 1956, 1959)
Born and educated in this country, I glory in the name of Britain.
George III1738–1820Speech to Parliament (18 November 1760), quoted in P. D. G. Thomas, George III: King and Politicians, 1760–1770 (2002), p. 33
Thinking men and women the world over are beginning to realize that patriotism is too narrow and limited a conception to meet the necessities of our time.
Emma Goldman1869–1940Patriotism: A Menace to Liberty
Conceit, arrogance, and egotism are the essentials of patriotism.
Emma Goldman1869–1940“Patriotism: A Menace to Liberty”, Anarchism and Other Essays (1910)
Patriotism, in the trenches, was too remote a sentiment, and at once rejected as fit only for civilians, or prisoners. A new arrival who talked patriotism would soon be told to cut it out.
Robert Graves1895–1985Goodbye to All That (1929), Ch. 17
- War & Peace
I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.
Nathan Hale1755–1776Last words before he was hanged by the British as a spy (22 September 1776), in William Hull’s account of what Captain John Montresor, who was there, told him the next day
- Life & Death
It is not always easy to say where we are from, what nationality we are. Home is where our heart is – and that cannot always be confined within national borders.
Harald V1937–2026Garden party in the Palace Park, welcoming speech (1 September 2016)
Patriotism is proud of a country’s virtues and eager to correct its deficiencies; it also acknowledges the legitimate patriotism of other countries, with their own specific virtues.
SHSydney J. Harris1917–1986Pieces of Eight (1982)
They wrote in the old days that it is sweet and fitting to die for ones 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 Hemingway1899–1961Notes on the Next War (1935)
- War & Peace
The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers and New Englanders are no more. I am not a Virginian, but an American.
Patrick Henry1736–1799Speech in the First Continental Congress (6 September 1774), as recorded in John Adams’s notes of the debates
- America