A thoughtful mind, when it sees a Nation's flag, sees not the flag only, but the Nation itself; and whatever may be its symbols, its insignia, he reads chiefly in the flag the Government, the principles, the truths, the history which belongs to the Nation which belongs to the Nation that sets it forth.
Beecher, Henry Ward

Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve
Bush, President George W

With those attacks, the terrorists and their supporters declared war on the United States. And war is what they got
Bush, President George W

Great responsibilities have fallen once again to the great democracies. We will face these threats with open eyes and we will defeat them.
Bush, President George W

(Pro Patria) For one’s country
Caesar, Caius Julius

The love of one’s country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border?
Casals, Pablo Pau

'My country, right or wrong' is a thing no patriot would ever think of saying except in a desperate case. It is like saying 'My mother, drunk or sober.'
Chesterton, Gilbert Keith

These are not dark days: these are great days--the greatest days our country has ever lived.
Churchill, Sir Winston Leonard Spencer

What General Weygand called the "Battle of France" is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it depends our own British life and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands; but if we fail then the whole world, including the United States, and all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new dark age made more sinister, and perhaps more prolonged, by the lights of a perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duty, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Commonwealth and its Empire lasts for a thousand years, men will still say, "This was their finest hour."
Churchill, Sir Winston Leonard Spencer

In war, resolution; in defeat, defiance; in victory, magnanimity; in peace, goodwill.
Churchill, Sir Winston Leonard Spencer

....You ask, What is our policy? I will say; "It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us: to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy." You ask, What is our aim? I can answer with one word: Victory - victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival.
Churchill, Sir Winston Leonard Spencer

I have never accepted what many people have kindly said-namely, that I inspired the nation. . . . It was the nation and the race dwelling all round the globe that had the lion's heart. I had the luck to be called upon to give the roar.
Churchill, Sir Winston Leonard Spencer

Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, We shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the new world, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.
Churchill, Sir Winston Leonard Spencer

Here is the answer which I will give to President Roosevelt... We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire. Neither the sudden shock of battle nor the long-drawn trials of vigilance and exertion will wear us down. Give us the tools and we will finish the job.
Churchill, Sir Winston Leonard Spencer

I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined this Government: 'I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat."
Churchill, Sir Winston Leonard Spencer

We shall show mercy, but we shall not ask for it.
Churchill, Sir Winston Leonard Spencer

I am confident that we shall succeed in defeating and largely destroying this most tremendous onslaught by which we are now threatened, and anyhow, whatever happens, we will all go down fighting to the end
Churchill, Sir Winston Leonard Spencer

Should the invader come to Britain, there will be no placid lying down of the people in submission before him, as we have seen, alas! in other countries. We will defend every village, every town, and every city. The vast mass of London itself, fought street by street, could easily devour an entire hostile army, and we would rather see London laid in ashes and ruins than that it should be tamely and abjectly enslaved.
Churchill, Sir Winston Leonard Spencer

There is hopeful symbolism in the fact that flags do not wave in a vacuum.
Clarke, Arthur Charles

Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first.
De Gaulle, General Charles-André-Joseph-Marie

Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism - how passionately I hate them!
Einstein, Albert

When a whole nation is roaring Patriotism at the top of its voice, I am fain to explore the cleanness of its hands and purity of its heart
Emerson, Ralph Waldo

Treason doth never prosper. What's the reason? Why, when it prospers, none dare call it treason.
Harrington, Sir John

Let those who would die for the flag on the field of battle give a better proof of their patriotism and a higher glory to their country by promoting fraternity and justice.
Harrison, President Benjamin

Without a sign, his sword the brave man draws, And asks no omens but his country’s cause.
Homer