To poison a nation, poison its stories. A demoralised nation tells demoralised stories to itself. Beware of the storytellers who are not fully conscious of the importance of their gifts, and who are irresponsible in the application of their art: they.
—Ben Okri (b.1959) Nigerian Novelist, Poet, Short-Story Writer
The United Nations is our one great hope for a peaceful and free world.
—Ralph Bunche (1903–71) American Political Scientist, Diplomat
A nation, like a person, has a mind – a mind that must be kept informed and alert, that must know itself, that understands the hopes and needs of its neighbors – all the other nations that live within the narrowing circle of the world.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) American Head of State, Lawyer
France has neither winter nor summer nor morals. Apart from these drawbacks it is a fine country.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
How can you govern a country with two hundred and forty six varieties of cheese?
—Charles de Gaulle (1890–1970) French General, Statesman
France is the country where the money falls apart and you can’t tear the toilet paper.
—Billy Wilder (1906–2002) American Filmmaker
Poor nations are hungry, and rich nations are proud; and pride and hunger will ever be at variance.
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) Irish Satirist
Put an Irishman on the spit and you can always get another Irishman to turn him.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
No nation ever had an army large enough to guarantee it against attack in time of peace or insure it victory in time of war.
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933) American Head of State, Lawyer
It is clear our nation is reliant upon big foreign oil. More and more of our imports come from overseas.
—George W. Bush (b.1946) American Head of State, Businessperson
The nation which reposes on the pillow of political confidence, will sooner or later end its political existence in a deadly lethargy.
—James Madison (1751–1836) American Founding Father, Statesman, President
Every nation sincerely desires peace; and all nations pursue courses which if persisted in, must make peace impossible.
—Norman Angell (1872–1967) English Economist, Writer, Pacifist
There was never a nation great until it came to the knowledge that it had nowhere in the world to go for help.
—Charles Dudley Warner (1829–1900) American Essayist, Novelist
No matter how big a nation is, it is no stronger that its weakest people, and as long as you keep a person down, some part of you has to be down there to hold him down, so it means you cannot soar as you might otherwise.
—Marian Anderson (1897–1993) American Singer, Activist
There are few more impressive sights in the world than a Scotsman on the make.
—J. M. Barrie (1860–1937) Scottish Novelist, Dramatist
The greatest nations have all acted like gangsters and the smallest like prostitutes.
—Stanley Kubrick (1928–99) American Film Director, Producer
No nation is permitted to live in ignorance with impunity.
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
If you want to study the social and political history of modern nations, study hell.
—Thomas Merton (1915–68) American Trappist Monk
History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives.
—Abba Eban (1915–2002) Israeli Diplomat, Politician
Individuals may form communities, but it is institutions alone that can create a nation.
—Benjamin Disraeli (1804–81) British Head of State
The strength and power of a country depends absolutely on the quantity of good men and women in it.
—John Ruskin (1819–1900) English Writer, Art Critic
In dealing with Englishmen you can be sure of one thing only, that the logical solution will not be adopted.
—William Ralph Inge (1860–1954) English Anglican Clergyman, Priest, Mystic
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
Most nations, as well as people are impossible only in their youth; they become incorrigible as they grow older.
—Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–78) Swiss-born French Philosopher
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
A nation is a society united by a delusion about its ancestry and by a common hatred of its neighbors.
—William Motter Inge (1913–73) American Playwright, Novelist
A national debt, if it is not excessive, will be to us a national blessing.
—Alexander Hamilton (c.1757–1804) American Federalist Politician, Statesman
A nation without dregs and malcontents is orderly, peaceful and pleasant, but perhaps without the seed of things to come.
—Eric Hoffer (1902–83) American Philosopher, Author
If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom; and the irony of it is that, if it is comfort or money it values more, it will lose that too.
—W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1965) British Novelist, Short-Story Writer, Playwright
The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home.
—Confucius (551–479 BCE) Chinese Philosopher
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