It is by all odds the loftiest of cities. It even managed to reach the highest point in the sky at the lowest moment of the depression.
E. B. WhiteRead
Nationalism has two fatal charms for its devotees: It presupposes local self-sufficiency, which is a pleasant and desirable condition, and it suggests, very subtly, a certain personal superiority by reason of one's belonging to a place which is definable and familiar, as against a place that is strange, remote.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Nationalism creates a sense of local pride and personal superiority based on one's origin.
In this quote, E. B. White critiques nationalism by highlighting its appealing aspects: the comforting notion of self-sufficiency associated with local identity and the subtle feeling of superiority it instills in individuals who belong to a recognizable and familiar place. However, this perspective can also foster division and an exclusionary mindset towards those from different or unfamiliar backgrounds.
Themes
NationalismIdentitySelf-SufficiencySuperiorityLocality
In practice
Example use cases
Discussing the impact of nationalism in a political debate.
More from E. B. White
All quotes →It isn't silence you can cut with a knife any more, it's interchange of ideas. Intelligent discussion of practically everything is what is breaking up modern marriage.
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The main thing I try to do is write as clearly as I can. Because I have the greatest respect for the reader, and if he's going to the trouble of reading what I've written -- I'm a slow reader myself and I guess most people are -- why, the least I can do is make it as easy as possible for him to find out what I'm trying to say, trying to get at. I rewrite a good deal to make it clear.
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A good farmer is nothing more nor less than a handy man with a sense of humus.
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A despot doesn't fear eloquent writers preaching freedom- he fears a drunken poet who may crack a joke that will take hold.
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All writing is communication; creative writing is communication through revelation-it is the Self-escaping into the open.
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