Top 10 Greatest Quotes About Patriotism

Some people love the country they were born in. Others might have adopted a new country. Regardless, there seems to be a knack for patriotism with many people.

However, not everyone sees the good in being patriotic. Along with feelings of pride and brotherly love, it has caused wars, fights, sadness, and death.

Below are some of the best quotes about patriotism, not only in favor of it but also opposed to it.

The Top Ten

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

    Countries, states, towns, races, classes, clubs, groups, teams, gangs, cliques - mankind will always find a reason to hate another group. What once was an evolutionary benefit is now our greatest downfall. The only group we truly belong to is humanity.

    What about the people that were born illegally in a country? Should they have the right to be as patriotic as those born legally?

    It makes me shiver to realize that if I were born in the U.S., I'd love my country. Shivers.

  2. Patriotism is the willingness to kill and be killed for trivial reasons. - Bertrand Russell

    Let's face it, most wars not fought over religion are fought over real estate. Eddie Izzard captures it best with his "Flag" routine. Look it up.

  3. "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

    Sometimes, it is not about blind faith but rather about judging someone by their works. Or, judging a country by its works.

  4. Our obligations to our country never cease but with our lives. - John Adams

    Those who do not wish to sacrifice for another person are often not worth sacrificing for by others.

  5. You're not to be so blind with patriotism that you can't face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or says it. - Malcolm X

    Any atrocity carried out by a nation or its government is wrong and should not be tolerated or condoned by its people.

  6. When a whole nation is roaring patriotism at the top of its voice, I am fain to explore the cleanness of its hands and purity of its heart. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

    Yelling "Patriotism" is often the first sign of guilt. It's like calling someone names on the playground because you know their argument is valid and you have no way to counter it.

  7. When I am abroad, I always make it a rule never to criticize or attack the government of my own country. I make up for lost time when I come home. - Winston Churchill

    Just because you have grievances and qualms with your country, government, or people doesn't mean you have to broadcast it to others who might not have formed an opinion yet. What better place to express your thoughts than at home, where the people you take issue with can hear you?

  8. The flag is the embodiment, not of sentiment, but of history. - Woodrow Wilson

    This thought not only aligns with the "might makes right" mentality but also questions whether all victorious actions are those that should have taken place.

  9. The history of liberty is the history of resistance. The history of liberty is a history of the limitation of governmental power, not the increase of it. - Woodrow Wilson

    As spoken by an American President, this statement essentially says that the State doesn't grant liberty or freedom. Instead, those who oppose the government are the people who guarantee it.

  10. Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. - John F. Kennedy

    11. The Newcomers
  11. ?

    Democracy is life, Communism is death. - Liberty Prime (Fallout)

  12. ?

    I love my country too much to be a nationalist.

    13. The Contenders

  13. Patriotism is a virtue of the vicious. - Oscar Wilde

  14. The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. - Thomas Jefferson

    While this quote is often used in defense of patriotism, I interpret it to mean that for liberty to exist, we need to be willing to fight for what we believe. Sometimes, those who agree with the status quo win, and sometimes the opponents do. But regardless, continuously questioning the existing dogma of the State is the only way to ensure a society doesn't fall into staleness and fanaticism.

  15. Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel. - Samuel Johnson

    True, because it hides all kinds of inhumanity under its umbrella and is the main excuse for militarism.

  16. Who saves his country violates his law. - Napoleon Bonaparte

  17. Patriotism is a pernicious, psychopathic form of idiocy. - George Bernard Shaw

  18. Loyalty to country always. Loyalty to government when it deserves it. - Mark Twain

  19. Patriots always talk of dying for their country but never of killing for their country.

  20. A man who is good enough to shed his blood for his country is good enough to be given a square deal afterward. More than that no man is entitled to, and less than that no man shall have. - Theodore Roosevelt

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

  22. If death strikes before I prove my blood, I swear I'll kill death. - Capt. Manoj Kumar Pandey

  23. Whenever you hear a man speak of his love for his country, it is a sign that he expects to be paid for it.

  24. You give me your blood, and I will give you freedom. - Subhas Chandra Bose

  25. Love of one's country recognizes no frontiers... of other countries.

  26. Go to foreign countries, and you will get to know the good things one possesses at home.

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