When a whole nation is roaring patriotism at the top of its voice, I am fain to explore the cleanness of its hands and the purity of its heart.
Interpretation
Patriotism can sometimes mask the true moral integrity of a nation; one should examine deeper than surface-level expressions of love for one's country.
In this quote, Ralph Waldo Emerson reflects on the idea that blind patriotism can prevent individuals from recognizing the ethical state of their nation. He suggests that when everyone is loudly expressing their patriotic fervor, itβs important to question whether this enthusiasm is backed by genuine moral values and purity of intent, urging people to look beyond superficial displays of loyalty to assess the true character of their country.
In practice
In a speech about national values, one might quote Emerson to remind the audience to focus on moral integrity.
It is plain that there is no separate essence called courage, no cup or cell in the brain, no vessel in the heart containing drops or atoms that make or give this virtue; but it is the right or healthy state of every man, when he is free to do that which is constitutional to him to do.
Few people have any next, they live from hand to mouth without a plan, and are always at the end of their line.
Men cease to interest us when we find their limitations
Tis the good reader that makes the good book; a good head cannot read amiss: in every book he finds passages which seem confidences or asides hidden from all else and unmistakeably meant for his ear.
The world belongs to the energetic.
Hast thou named all the birds without a gun?
Human nature is pretty well balanced; for every lacking virtue there is a rough substitute that will serve at a pinch--as cunning is the wisdom of the unwise, and ferocity the courage of the coward.
Out of Ireland have we come, great hatred, little room, maimed us at the start. I carry from my mother's womb a fanatic heart.
That when we live no more, We may live ever
Genocide is not just a murderous madness; it is, more deeply, a politics that promises a utopia beyond politics - one people, one land, one truth, the end of difference. Since genocide is a form of political utopia, it remains an enduring temptation in any multiethnic and multicultural society in crisis.
Old events have modern meanings; only that survives of past history which finds kindred in all hearts and lives.
If there is any God, there is only one way to please him, and that is by a conscientious discharge of your obligations to your fellow men.
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