Weather is a literary specialty, and no untrained hand can turn out a good article on it
Mark TwainRead
Well - Patriotism has its laws. And it also is a perfectly definite one, there are not vaguenesses about it. It commands that the brother over the border shall be sharply watched and brought to book every time he does us a hurt or offends us with an insult.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the strict and often unforgiving nature of patriotism, particularly in how it influences perceptions of loyalty and offense.
Mark Twain's quote reflects the concept of patriotism as a rigid doctrine that demands vigilance and retribution against perceived wrongs from neighboring nations or groups. It suggests that true patriotism requires not just loyalty but also a readiness to defend one's country against any offense, revealing the often contentious dynamics that come with national identity and relationships between nations. Twain's words provoke thought about the balance between love for one's country and the potential for hostility towards others.
Themes
PatriotismLoyaltyOffenseBrotherhoodRetribution
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion on national identity, one might reference this quote to illustrate the complexities of feeling loyalty and brotherhood while facing insult from other nations.
More from Mark Twain
All quotes →The easy part of being an artist is figuring out the message that everyone else is ready to hear. The hard part is waiting for the proper lull to make the announcement.
Mark TwainRead
You can't reason with your heart; it has its own laws, and thumps about things which the intellect scorns.
Mark TwainRead
To be good is noble; but to show others how to be good is nobler and no trouble.
Mark TwainRead
Name the greatest of all inventors. Accident.
Mark TwainRead
In Paris they just simply opened their eyes and stared when we spoke to them in French! We never did succeed in making those idiots understand their own language.
Mark TwainRead
Similar quotes
He knew how to say many false things that were like true sayings.
HomerRead
The best of America drifts to Paris. The American in Paris is the best American. It is more fun for an intelligent person to live in an intelligent country. France has the only two things toward which we drift as we grow older—intelligence and good manners.
F. Scott FitzgeraldRead
But the fact a person denies that he is theorising is no reason for taking him at his word and failing to investigate what implicit theory is involved in his statements.
Talcott ParsonsRead
The way to God is the opposite to that of the world. And to few, very few, are given to have God and mammon at the same time.
Swami VivekanandaRead
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Abraham LincolnRead
Jews are frequently compared to the proverbial 'canary in the coal mine,' an enduring signal for when the world is failing to meet its obligations in tackling bigotry. It has never been clearer to me just how widely understood that truism is.
Ephraim MirvisRead