On rare occasions one does hear of a miraculous case of a married couple falling in love after marriage, but on close examination it will be found that it is a mere adjustment to the inevitable.
Emma GoldmanRead
Leo Tolstoy ... defines patriotism as the principle that will justify the training of wholesale murderers.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Patriotism can lead to justifying violence and warfare under the guise of national loyalty.
Emma Goldman's quote reflects a critical view of patriotism, suggesting that it often serves as a justification for acts of violence and murder in the name of the nation. Tolstoy's perspective highlights the dangerous implications of an unwavering allegiance to one's country, which can desensitize individuals to the moral implications of their actions, particularly in warfare and conflict.
Themes
PatriotismViolenceMoralityNationalismCritique
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech discussing the ethical implications of war, this quote could emphasize the moral responsibilities we have as citizens.
More from Emma Goldman
All quotes βNo one has yet realized the wealth of sympathy, the kindness and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure.
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To the indefinite, uncertain mind of the American radical the most contradictory ideas and methods are possible. The result is a sad chaos in the radical movement, a sort of intellectual hash, which has neither taste nor character.
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John Burroughs has stated that experimental study of animals in captivity is absolutely useless. Their character, their habits, their appetites undergo a complete transformation when torn from their soil in field and forest. With human nature caged in a narrow space, whipped daily into submission, how can we speak of its potentialities?
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Anarchism is the only philosophy which brings to man the consciousness of himself; which maintains that God, the State, and society are non-existent, that their promises are null and void, since they can be fulfilled only through man's subordination.
Emma GoldmanRead
If love does not know how to give and take without restrictions, it is not love, but a transaction that never fails to lay stress on a plus and a minus.
Emma GoldmanRead
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