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, it’s 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?
As no roads are so rough as those that have just been mended, so no sinners are so intolerant as those that have just turned saints.
Nothing is so wearing as the possession or abuse of liberty.
What are you so mad about? That we still have a government? We still have “traffic lights.” We’re sorry. The government’s not perfect, but some people wish it was better, not gone.
I can speak of slavery only so far as it came under my own observation - only so far as I have known and experienced it in my own person.
We lose our hair, our teeth! Our bloom, our ideals.
Religion is one of the most important forces in the world. Whether you are a Christian, a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Jew, or a Hindu, religion is a great force, and it can help one have command of one's own morality, one's own behavior, and one's own attitude.
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