The love of one's country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border?
Interpretation
Patriotism is admirable, but it should not limit our love and compassion for people beyond our national borders.
This quote by Pablo Casals reflects the idea that while it is noble to love and feel a sense of pride for one's own country, such affections should not confine one's feelings to just those within that country. The underlying message encourages a broader understanding of love and humanity that extends across national boundaries, advocating for a sense of global solidarity and empathy towards all people, regardless of nationality.
In practice
In a speech about international cooperation, one might quote this to highlight the importance of unity beyond borders.
Bach is the supreme genius of music... This man, who knows everything and feels everything, cannot write one note, however unimportant it may appear, which is anything but transcendent. He has reached the heart of every noble thought, and has done it in the most perfect way.
In music, in the sea, in a flower, in a leaf, in an act of kindness... I see what people call God in all these things.
The child must know that he is a miracle, that since the beginning of the world there hasn't been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him.
I am an old man but in many senses a very young man. And this is what I want you to be, young, young all your life.
To the whole world you might be just one person, but to one person you might just be the whole world.
How could anybody think of Bach as 'cold' when these [cello] suites seem to shine with the most glittering kind of poetry," Casals said. "As I got on with the study I discovered a new world of space and beauty... the feelings I experienced were among the purest and most intense in my artistic life!
I am like a machine being driven to excessive rotations: the bearings are incandescing and, in a minute, melted metal will begin to drip and everything will turn to nothing. Quick: get cold water, logic. I am pouring it over myself by the bucketload but the logic sizzles on the hot bearings and dissipates elusive white steam into the air.
There is something noble in hearing myself ill spoken of, when I am doing well.
The Bible has been the Magna Charta of the poor and of the oppressed.
When explorers first encountered my people, they called us heathens, sun worshippers. They didn't understand that the sun is a relative and illuminates our path on this earth.
Every society gets the kind of criminal it deserves. What is equally true is that every community gets the kind of law enforcement it insists on.
Nothing happens. Nobody comes, nobody goes. It's awful.
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