"We teach them to take their patriotism..." - Quote by Mark Twain

We teach them to take their patriotism at second-hand; to shout with the largest crowd without examining into the right or wrong of the matter -- exactly as boys under monarchies are taught and have always been taught. We teach them to regard as traitors, and hold in aversion and contempt, such as do not shout with the crowd, and so here in our democracy we are cheering a thing which of all things is most foreign to it and out of place -- the delivery of our political conscience into somebody else's keeping. This is patriotism on the Russian plan.
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More by Mark Twain

“The secret source of humor is not joy but sorrow.”
— Mark Twain
“It is a good idea to obey all the rules when you're young just so you'll have the strength to break them when you're old.”
— Mark Twain
“Courage is not the absence of fear, but the mastery of it.”
— Mark Twain

More on Patriotism

“We have to start thinking of America as a family. We have to stop screeching screeching at each other, stop hurting each other, and instead start caring for, sacrificing for and sharing with each other ... We cannot move forward if cynics and critics swoop down and pick apart anything that goes wrong, to a point where we lose sight of what is right, decent and uniquely good about America.”
— Colin Powell
“We must especially beware of that small group of selfish men who would clip the wings of the American Eagle in order to feather their own nests.”
— Franklin D. Roosevelt
“To anticipate and prevent disasterous contingencies would be the part of wisdom and patriotism.”
— George Washington

More on Education

“My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her.”
— George Washington
“A system of general instruction, which shall reach every description of our citizens, from the richest to the poorest, as it was the earliest, so will it be the latest, of all the public concerns in which I shall permit myself to take an interest.”
— Thomas Jefferson
“That's what education should be," I said, "the art of orientation. Educators should devise the simplest and most effective methods of turning minds around. It shouldn't be the art of implanting sight in the organ, but should proceed on the understanding that the organ already has the capacity, but is improperly aligned and isn't facing the right way.”
— Plato