The use of force alone is but temporary. It may subdue for a moment; but it does not remove the necessity of subduing again: and a nation is not governed, which is perpetually to be conquered.
—Edmund Burke (1729–97) British Philosopher, Statesman
Nothing has changed in Russias policy. Her methods, her tactics, her maneuvers may change, but the pole starworld dominationis immutable.
—Karl Marx (1818–1883) German Philosopher, Economist
Territory is but the body of a nation.—The people who inhabit its hills and valleys are its soul, its spirit, its life.
—James A. Garfield (1831–81) American Head of State, Lawyer, Educator
France is the country where the money falls apart and you can’t tear the toilet paper.
—Billy Wilder (1906–2002) American Filmmaker
Nations! What are nations? Tartars! and Huns! and Chinamen! Like insects they swarm. The historian strives in vain to make them memorable. It is for want of a man that there are so many men. It is individuals that populate the world.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
How can you govern a country with two hundred and forty six varieties of cheese?
—Charles de Gaulle (1890–1970) French General, Statesman
God made the country and man made the town.
—William Cowper (1731–1800) English Anglican Poet, Hymn writer
Individuals may form communities, but it is institutions alone that can create a nation.
—Benjamin Disraeli (1804–81) British Head of State
The soil of their native land is dear to all the hearts of mankind.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
I suffer more from the humiliations inflicted by my country than from those inflicted on her.
—Simone Weil (1909–1943) French Philosopher, Political Activist
Nationality is the miracle of political independence; race is the principle of physical analogy.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Nations without a past are contradictions in terms. What makes a nation is the past, what justifies one nation against others is the past, and historians are the people who produce it.
—Eric Hobsbawm (1917–2012) British Historian
A people always ends by resembling its shadow.
—Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) British Children’s Books Writer, Short story, Novelist, Poet, Journalist
I am the state.
—Louis XIV of France (1638–1715) King of France
The greatest nations have all acted like gangsters and the smallest like prostitutes.
—Stanley Kubrick (1928–99) American Film Director, Writer, Film Producer, Photographer
Nations, like stars, are entitled to eclipse. All is well, provided the light returns and the eclipse does not become endless night. Dawn and resurrection are synonymous. The reappearance of the light is the same as the survival of the soul.
—Victor Hugo (1802–85) French Novelist
The great nations have always acted like gangsters, and the small nations like prostitutes.
—Stanley Kubrick (1928–99) American Film Director, Writer, Film Producer, Photographer
The history of any nation follows an undulatory course. In the trough of the wave we find more or less complete anarchy; but the crest is not more or less complete Utopia, but only, at best, a tolerably humane, partially free and fairly just society that invariably carries within itself the seeds of its own decadence.
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) English Humanist, Pacifist, Essayist, Short Story Writer, Satirist
The maxim of the British people is “Business as usual.”
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
A nation is the same people living in the same place.
—James Joyce (1882–1941) Irish Novelist, Poet
There is always something new out of Africa.
—Pliny the Elder (23–79CE) Roman Statesman, Scholar
A Country is not a mere territory; the particular territory is only its foundation. The Country is the idea which rises upon that foundation; it is the sentiment of love, the sense of fellowship which binds together all the sons of that territory.
—Giuseppe Mazzini (1805–72) Italian Patriot, Political Leader
I showed my appreciation of my native land in the usual Irish way: by getting out of it as soon as I possibly could.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
Methinks I see in my mind a noble and puissant nation rousing herself like a strong man after sleep, and shaking her invincible locks. Methinks I see her as an eagle mewing her mighty youth, and kindling her undazzled eyes at the full midday beam.
—John Milton (1608–74) English Poet, Civil Servant, Scholar, Debater
The best protection of a nation is its men; towns and cities cannot have a surer defense than the prowess and virtue of their inhabitants.
—Francois Rabelais (1494–1553) French Humanist, Satirist
As for the just and noble idea, that nations, as well as individuals, are parts of one wondrous whole, it has hardly passed the lips or pen of any but religious men and poets.—It is the one great principle of the greatest religion which has ever nourished the morals of mankind.
—Harriet Martineau (1802–76) English Sociologist, Economist, Essayist, Philosopher
Frenchmen have an unlimited capacity for gallantry and indulge it on every occasion.
—Moliere (1622–73) French Playwright
If nations always moved from one set of furnished rooms to another—and always into a better set—things might be easier, but the trouble is that there is no one to prepare the new rooms. The future is worse than the ocean—there is nothing there. It will be what men and circumstances make it.
—Alexander Herzen (1812–70) Russian Revolutionary, Writer
In the true sense one’s native land, with its background of tradition, early impressions, reminiscences and other things dear to one, is not enough to make sensitive human beings feel at home.
—Emma Goldman (1869–1940) Lithuanian-American Anarchist, Feminist
A strong nation, like a strong person, can afford to be gentle, firm, thoughtful, and restrained. It can afford to extend a helping hand to others. It’s a weak nation, like a weak person, that must behave with bluster and boasting and rashness and other signs of insecurity.
—Jimmy Carter (b.1924) American Head of State, Military Leader
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