My country right or wrong; when right, to keep her right; when wrong, to put her right.
Carl SchurzRead
Tis not, 'my country right or wrong'; tis, 'my country, that which is right to be kept right, that which is wrong to be set right'
Interpretation
Patriotism should be guided by a moral compass, striving to correct wrongs rather than blindly supporting your country.
This quote emphasizes the idea that true patriotism is not about unconditionally supporting one's country, but rather about actively promoting justice and righteousness. It advocates for a critical approach to national loyalty, where one recognizes faults and seeks to correct them rather than overlooking them in a misguided sense of loyalty.
In practice
This quote could be used in a speech about civic responsibility during a political rally.
The wind is rushing after us, and the clouds are flying after us, and the moon is plunging after us, and the whole wild night is in pursuit of us; but, so far we are pursued by nothing else.
You are not wood, you are not stones, but men.
How can one, who eats the flesh of others to swell his flesh, show compassion?
Each of us is a moving center, a space of divine mystery. And though we spend most of our time on the surface in the daily details of ordinary existence, most us hunger to connect to this space within, to break through to bliss, to be swept away into something bigger than us.
You see, it's actually very good that a human activity is performed very close to death, because that's where life is. Life is, at its most valuable and most full, very close to the boundary of life.
Manifest the divinity within you and everything will be harmoniously arranged around it.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.