States are as the men, they grow out of human characters.
—Plato (428 BCE–347 BCE) Greek Philosopher, Mathematician, Educator
A people always ends by resembling its shadow.
—Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) British Writer, Poet, Novelist, Short Story Author
Great nations write their autobiographies in three manuscripts, the book of their deeds, the book of their words and the book of their art. Not one of these books can be understood unless we read the two others, but of the three the only trustworthy one is the last.
—John Ruskin (1819–1900) English Writer, Art Critic
An Englishmen thinks seated; a Frenchmen standing; an American pacing, an Irishman, afterwards.
—Austin O’Malley (1858–1932) American Aphorist, Ophthalmologist
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, Satirist, Short Story Writer
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 (1924–2024) 39th US President, Humanitarian
The English are predisposed to pride, the French to vanity.
—Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–78) Swiss-born French Philosopher
The United Nations is our one great hope for a peaceful and free world.
—Ralph Bunche (1903–71) American Political Scientist, Diplomat
The United Nations is designed to make possible lasting freedom and independence for all its members.
—Harry S. Truman (1884–1972) American Head of State
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 French work to live, but the Swiss live to work.
—French Proverb
The Canadian spirit is cautious, observant and critical where the American is assertive.
—V. S. Pritchett (1900–97) British Biographer, Memoirist, Short Story Writer, Critic
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
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
National character is only another name for the particular form which the littleness, perversity and baseness of mankind take in every country. Every nation mocks at other nations, and all are right.
—Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) German Philosopher
The French complain of everything, and always.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
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
France has neither winter nor summer nor morals. Apart from these drawbacks it is a fine country.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
The English instinctively admire any man who has no talent and is modest about it.
—James Agate (1877–1947) English Critic, Diarist
I am the state.
—Louis XIV of France (1638–1715) King of France
Historians are to nationalism what poppy-growers in Pakistan are to heroin-addicts: we supply the essential raw material for the market.
—Eric Hobsbawm (1917–2012) British Historian
Americans are like a rich father who wishes he knew how to give his sons the hardships that made him rich.
—Robert Frost (1874–1963) American Poet
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
Nationalist pride, like other variants of pride, can be a substitute for self-respect.
—Eric Hoffer (1902–83) American Philosopher, Author
Much may be made of a Scotchman, if he be caught young.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
I find that the Americans have no passions, they have appetites.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
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
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
It is easier for a Russian to become an atheist than for anyone else in the world.
—Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821–81) Russian Novelist, Essayist, Writer
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