Surely, nothing can be more dangerous than the doctrine that the moral obligations of men change with the latitude and longitude of a place.
William Lloyd GarrisonRead
Our country is the world, our countrymen are all mankind. We love the land of our nativity, only as we love all other lands. The interests, rights, and liberties of American citizens are no more dear to us than are those of the whole human race. Hence we can allow no appeal to patriotism, to revenge any national insult or injury.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes global citizenship over nationalism, advocating for universal love and rights for all humanity.
William Lloyd Garrison's quote challenges the often narrow focus of patriotism by proposing that true allegiance should extend beyond national borders to encompass all of humanity. He articulates the idea that our loyalty to our own country should be equal to that of all lands, promoting a vision where the interests of individuals are aligned with those of the global community, thus rejecting any form of nationalistic revenge or insularity.
Themes
PatriotismHumanityGlobal CitizenshipUniversal RightsNationalism
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech advocating for human rights, one might say, 'As William Lloyd Garrison stated, our country is the world and our countrymen are all mankind.'
More from William Lloyd Garrison
All quotes →I do not believe that God has created us under this dire necessity to toil, like beasts, to sustain life. I believe it is his will that we should hold absolute mastery over time, so as to devote it mainly to intellectual and moral improvement, domestic enjoyment, and social intercourse.
William Lloyd GarrisonRead
If the State cannot survive the anti-slavery agitation, then let the State perish. If the Church must be cast down by the strugglings of Humanity to be free, then let the Church fall and its fragments be scattered to the four winds of Heaven, never more to curse the earth.
William Lloyd GarrisonRead
Has not the experience of two centuries shown that gradualism in theory is perpetuity in practice? Is there an instance, in the history of the world, where slaves have been educated for freedom by their task-masters?
William Lloyd GarrisonRead
The apathy of the people is enough to make every statue leap from its pedestal and hasten the resurrection of the dead.
William Lloyd GarrisonRead
Let not those who say that the path of obedience is a dangerous one claim to believe in the living and true God. They deny his omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence. It is his will that the bands of wickedness should be loosed, the heavy burdens of tyranny undone, the oppressed set free.
William Lloyd GarrisonRead
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