Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
The English are predisposed to pride, the French to vanity.
—Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–78) Swiss-born French Philosopher
In every particular state of the world, those nations which are strongest tend to prevail over the others; and in certain marked peculiarities the strongest tend to be the best.
—Walter Bagehot (1826–77) English Economist, Journalist
I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
God how I hate new countries: They are older than the old, more sophisticated, much more conceited, only young in a certain puerile vanity more like senility than anything.
—D. H. Lawrence (1885–1930) English Novelist, Playwright, Poet, Essayist, Literary Critic
Nationality is the miracle of political independence; race is the principle of physical analogy.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Frenchmen have an unlimited capacity for gallantry and indulge it on every occasion.
—Moliere (1622–73) French Playwright
An Englishmen thinks seated; a Frenchmen standing; an American pacing, an Irishman, afterwards.
—Austin O’Malley (1858–1932) American Aphorist, Ophthalmologist
States are as the men, they grow out of human characters.
—Plato (428 BCE–347 BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Mathematician, Educator
A people always ends by resembling its shadow.
—Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) British Children’s Books Writer, Short story, Novelist, Poet, Journalist
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
How can you govern a country with two hundred and forty six varieties of cheese?
—Charles de Gaulle (1890–1970) French General, Statesman
I do not call the sod under my feet my country; but language—religion—government—blood—identity in these makes men of one country.
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) English Poet, Literary Critic, Philosopher
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
Nationalist pride, like other variants of pride, can be a substitute for self-respect.
—Eric Hoffer (1902–83) American Philosopher, Author
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 suffer more from the humiliations inflicted by my country than from those inflicted on her.
—Simone Weil (1909–1943) French Philosopher, Political Activist
Poor nations are hungry, and rich nations are proud; and pride and hunger will ever be at variance.
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) Irish Satirist
Much may be made of a Scotchman, if he be caught young.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
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
The UN is not just a product of do-gooders. It is harshly real. The day will come when men will see the U.N. and what it means clearly. Everything will be all right—you know when?. When people, just people, stop thinking of the United Nations as a weird Picasso abstraction, and see it as a drawing they made themselves.
—Dag Hammarskjold (1905–61) Swedish Statesman, UN Diplomat
The Britons are quite separated from all the world.
—Virgil (70–19 BCE) Roman Poet
The soil of their native land is dear to all the hearts of mankind.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
The Canadian spirit is cautious, observant and critical where the American is assertive.
—V. S. Pritchett (1900–97) British Short Story Writer, Biographer, Memoirist, Literary Critic
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
The Irish ignore anything they can’t drink or punch.
—Common Proverb
The strength of a nation, especially of a republican nation, is in the intelligent and well-ordered homes of the people.
—Lydia H. Sigourney (1791–1865) American Poetaster, Author
Nations do not think, they only feel. They get their feelings at second hand through their temperaments, not their brains. A nation can be brought—by force of circumstances, not argument—to reconcile itself to any kind of government or religion that can be devised; in time it will fit itself to the required conditions; later it will prefer them and will fiercely fight for them.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
Nationalism is power hunger tempered by self-deception.
—George Orwell (1903–50) English Novelist, Journalist
Bulls get rich, bears get rich, but pigs get slaughtered An Irishman is never at his best except when fighting.
—Irish Proverb