On Patriotism
“Patriotism is an ephemeral motive that scarcely ever outlasts the particular threat to society that aroused it.” Denis Diderot, Observations on the Drawing Up of Laws (1774) “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.” Samuel Johnson, quoted in Life of Samuel Johnson by James Boswell (1791) “Patriotism ruins history.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Conversation with Friedrich Wilhem Riemer (July, 1817)…