I realize that patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone.
Edith CavellRead
Patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards any one.
Interpretation
Patriotism should be accompanied by compassion and understanding, devoid of hate.
Edith Cavell's quote emphasizes that true patriotism transcends mere allegiance to one's country; it calls for a love for humanity that excludes hatred and bitterness towards others. It suggests that genuine love for one's nation does not foster division or animosity but rather promotes unity and understanding among all people, regardless of their background or beliefs.
In practice
In a speech about unity during national celebrations.
I realize that patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone.
In 1985, I joined my mother in a protest against apartheid in which we were arrested at the South African embassy in Washington, D.C. And she was at President-elect Mandela's side in Johannesburg when he claimed victory in South Africa's first free elections.
The power of resistance is to set an example: not necessarily to change the person with whom you disagree, but to empower the one who is watching and whose growth is not yet completed, whose path is not at all clear, whose direction is still very much up in the proverbial air.
Without our faith, we wouldn't have been able to succeed. On many occasions, before we'd go out on a sit-in, before we went on the freedom ride, before we marched from Selma to Montgomery, we would sing a song or say a prayer. Without our faith, without the spirit and spiritual bearings and underpinning, we would not have been so successful.
And now a chill settled over them where they stood, and Harry heard the rasping breath of the dementors that patrolled the outer trees. They would not affect him now. The fact of his own survival burned inside him, a talisman against them, as though his father's stag kept guardian in his heart.
They tried their best to find a place where I was isolated. But all the resources of a superpower cannot isolate the man who hears a voice of freedom, a voice I heard from the very chamber of my soul.
I am the unarmed black kid who maybe needed a hand, but instead was given a bullet.
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