Those who won our independence... valued liberty as an end and as a means. They believed liberty to be the secret of happiness and courage to be the secret of liberty.

- Louis D. Brandeis

The life of the nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous.

- Frederick Douglass

The cry has been that when war is declared, all opposition should be hushed. A sentiment more unworthy of a free country could hardly be propagated.

- William Ellery Channing

I confidently trust that the American people will prove themselves ... too wise not to detect the false pride or the dangerous ambitions or the selfish schemes which so often hide themselves under that deceptive cry of mock patriotism: "Our country, right or wrong!" They will not fail to recognize that our dignity, our free institutions and the peace and welfare of this and coming generations of Americans will be secure only as we cling to the watchword of true patriotism: "Our country--when right to be kept right; when wrong to be put right." [Speech, Oct. 17, 1899. Source: Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations]

- Carl Schurz

The Senator from Wisconsin cannot frighten me by exclaiming, "My country, right or wrong." In one sense I say so too. My country; and my country is the great American Republic. My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right. [Senate speech, Feb. 29, 1872. Source: Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations]

- Carl Schurz

Lost terrible silent comrades, we, who might have died, salute you.

- Richard Aldington

Patriotism kills.

- Betty Williams

The people cannot be all, and always well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive.

- Thomas Jefferson

The true test of the American ideal is whether we're able to recognize our failings and then rise together to meet the challenges of our time. Whether we allow ourselves to be shaped by events and history, or whether we act to shape them.

- Barack Obama

Those of us who shout the loudest about Americanism in making character assassinations are all too frequently those who, by our own words and acts, ignore some of the basic principles of Americanism: The right to criticize. The right to hold unpopular beliefs. The right to protest. The right of independent thought.

- Margaret Chase Smith

Patriotism is a lively sense of collective responsibility. Nationalism is a silly cock crowing on its own dunghill.

- Richard Aldington

The only real nation is humanity.

- Paul Farmer

When Socrates was asked where he came from, he said that he was a citizen of the world. He regarded himself as a citizen of the universe.

- Marcus Tullius Cicero

Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.

- Howard Zinn

There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.

- Howard Zinn

A man's feet must be planted in his country, but his eyes should survey the world.

- George Santayana



Patriotism is a arbitrary veneration of real estate above principles.

- George Jean Nathan



I will fight for my country, but I will not lie for her.

- Zora Neale Hurston



The nation is divided, half patriots and half traitors, and no man can tell which from which.

- Mark Twain



A citizen of America will cross the ocean to fight for democracy, but won't cross the street to vote in a national election.

- Bill Vaughan



Intellectually I know that America is no better than any other country; emotionally I know she is better than every country.

- Sinclair Lewis



Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all others because you were born in it.

- George Bernard Shaw



A nation's culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people.

- Mohandas K. Gandhi



Not a direct quote from Sinclair Lewis, but a description of Sinclair's point in It Can't Happen Here, in which both nationalism and religion play a part.

- attributed to Sinclair Lewis



Unless our conception of patriotism is progressive, it cannot hope to embody the real affection and the real interest of the nation.

- Jane Addams



Love of country is like love of woman -- he loves her best who seeks to bestow on her the highest good.

- Felix Adler



My Country! When right keep it right; when wrong, set it right!

- Carl Schurz



I saw courage both in the Vietnam War and in the struggle to stop it. I learned that patriotism includes protest, not just military service.

- John Kerry



Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us.

- William O. Douglas



In the United States, doing good has come to be, like patriotism, a favorite device of persons with something to sell.

- H. L. Mencken



A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the sound of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance.

- Jawaharlal Nehru



During times of war, hatred becomes quite respectable, even though it has to masquerade often under the guise of patriotism.

- Howard Thurman



We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. When the loyal opposition dies, I think the soul of America dies with it.

- Edward R. Murrow



The peace and welfare of this and coming generations of Americans will be secure only as we cling to the watchword of true patriotism: "Our country -- when right to be kept right; when wrong to be put right."

- Carl Schurz



Moral cowardice that keeps us from speaking our minds is as dangerous to this country as irresponsible talk. The right way is not always the popular and easy way. Standing for right when it is unpopular is a true test of moral character.

- Margaret Chase Smith



It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace--but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death! March 23, 1775

- Patrick Henry



To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. (1918)

- Theodore Roosevelt



Naturally the common people don't want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country. quote verified at

- Hermann Goering



I was born an American; I will live an American; I shall die an American! July 1850 speech

- Daniel Webster



This second vision is our vision. It is the vision of a free society. We must be bold enough to proclaim it and strong enough to defend it against all its enemies.

- Rabbi Sherwin Wine



Patriotism does not oblige us to acquiesce in the destruction of liberty. Patriotism obliges us to question it, at least. [source]

- Wendy Kaminer



The government is merely a servant -- merely a temporary servant; it cannot be its prerogative to determine what is right and what is wrong, and decide who is a patriot and who isn't. Its function is to obey orders, not originate them.

- Mark Twain



Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.

- John F. Kennedy



Some men see things as they are and say, "Why?" I dream of things that never were and say, "Why not?"

paraphrase of Shaw, often attributed to Robert F. (Bobby) Kennedy, who used it in a speech which his brother, Edward F. (Teddy) Kennedy quoted at RFK's funeral.

- George Bernard Shaw



The notion that a radical is one who hates his country is na?ve and usually idiotic. He is, more likely, one who likes his country more than the rest of us, and is thus more disturbed than the rest of us when he sees it debauched. He is not a bad citizen turning to crime; he is a good citizen driven to despair.

- H. L. Mencken