„Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious“

„5371. Virtue hath such Charms, that even the Vicious inwardly reverence it.“

—  Thomas Fuller (writer) British physician, preacher, and intellectual 1654 - 1734

Compare Poor Richard's Almanack (1747) : There is no Man so bad, but he secretly respects the good.
Introductio ad prudentiam: Part II (1727), Gnomologia (1732)

„Patriotism is proud of a country’s virtues and eager to correct its deficiencies; it also acknowledges the legitimate patriotism of other countries, with their own specific virtues.“

—  Sydney J. Harris American journalist 1917 - 1986

“What’s Wrong with Being Proud?”
Pieces of Eight (1982)
Contexto: Patriotism is proud of a country’s virtues and eager to correct its deficiencies; it also acknowledges the legitimate patriotism of other countries, with their own specific virtues. The pride of nationalism, however, trumpets its country’s virtues and denies its deficiencies, while it is contemptuous toward the virtues of other countries. It wants to be, and proclaims itself to be, “the greatest,” but greatness is not required of a country; only goodness is.

„We have intelligence, and virtue, and patriotism. All that is required is to cultivate and perpetuate these.“

—  Alexander H. Stephens Vice President of the Confederate States (in office from 1861 to 1865) 1812 - 1883

The Cornerstone Speech (1861)
Contexto: We have intelligence, and virtue, and patriotism. All that is required is to cultivate and perpetuate these. Intelligence will not do without virtue. France was a nation of philosophers. These philosophers become Jacobins. They lacked that virtue, that devotion to moral principle, and that patriotism which is essential to good government. Organized upon principles of perfect justice and right-seeking amity and friendship with all other powers-I see no obstacle in the way of our upward and onward progress. Our growth, by accessions from other States, will depend greatly upon whether we present to the world, as I trust we shall, a better government than that to which neighboring States belong. If we do this, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas cannot hesitate long; neither can Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri. They will necessarily gravitate to us by an imperious law. We made ample provision in our constitution for the admission of other States; it is more guarded, and wisely so, I think, than the old constitution on the same subject, but not too guarded to receive them as fast as it may be proper. Looking to the distant future, and, perhaps, not very far distant either, it is not beyond the range of possibility, and even probability, that all the great States of the north-west will gravitate this way, as well as Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, etc. Should they do so, our doors are wide enough to receive them, but not until they are ready to assimilate with us in principle.

„A vicious teacher is just a vicious teacher, as a vicious neighbor may happen to be. But a vicious mother - means that the whole world is vicious.“

—  Simon Soloveychik Russia writer and philosopher 1930 - 1996

Book 1, part 2, ch. 20
Pedagogika dlya vseh (Parenting For Everyone) (1977–1986)

„The evils we experience flow from the excess of democracy. The people do not want virtue, but are the dupes of pretended patriots.“

—  Elbridge Gerry US diplomat and vice president; Massachusetts governor 1744 - 1814

Constitutional Convention http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/debates_531.asp Monday May 31 [FN1], 1787

„The virtues of courage and patriotism have given recent proof of their continued presence and increasing power in the hearts and over the lives of our people.“

—  Benjamin Harrison American politician, 23rd President of the United States (in office from 1889 to 1893) 1833 - 1901

Inaugural address (1889)
Contexto: The virtues of courage and patriotism have given recent proof of their continued presence and increasing power in the hearts and over the lives of our people. The influences of religion have been multiplied and strengthened. The sweet offices of charity have greatly increased. The virtue of temperance is held in higher estimation. We have not attained an ideal condition. Not all of our people are happy and prosperous; not all of them are virtuous and law-abiding. But on the whole the opportunities offered to the individual to secure the comforts of life are better than are found elsewhere and largely better than they were here one hundred years ago.

„Inflamed with the study of learning and the admiration of virtue; stirred up with high hopes of living to be brave men and worthy patriots, dear to God, and famous to all ages.“

—  John Milton English epic poet 1608 - 1674

Tractate of Education (1644)

„I have learned, by some experience, that virtue and patriotism, vice and selfishness, are found in all parties, and that they differ less in their motives than in the policies they pursue.“

—  William H. Seward American lawyer and politician 1801 - 1872

On the Irrepressible Conflict (1858)

„In most poetic expressions of patriotism, it is impossible to distinguish what is one of the greatest human virtues from the worst human vice, collective egotism.“

—  W. H. Auden, livro Forewords and Afterwords

"C.P. Cavafy", p. 341
Forewords and Afterwords (1973)
Contexto: In most poetic expressions of patriotism, it is impossible to distinguish what is one of the greatest human virtues from the worst human vice, collective egotism.
The virtue of patriotism has been extolled most loudly and publicly by nations that are in the process of conquering others, by the Roman, for example, in the first century B. C., the French in the 1790s, the English in the nineteenth century, and the Germans in the first half of the twentieth. To such people, love of one's country involves denying the right of others, of the Gauls, the Italians, the Indians, the Poles, to love theirs.

„It's such a waste to be subtle and vicious with people who don't even know that you're being subtle and vicious“

—  Ayn Rand, livro The Fountainhead

Fonte: The Fountainhead

„Fact be vertuous, or vicious, as Fortune pleaseth;“

—  Thomas Hobbes, livro Leviathan

The Second Part, Chapter 27, p. 153
Leviathan (1651)

„I believe patriotism comes from the heart. Patriotism is voluntary. It is a feeling of loyalty and allegiance that is the result of knowledge and belief. A patriot shows their patriotism through their actions, by their choice.“

—  Jesse Ventura American politician and former professional wrestler 1951

Explaining his veto http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=16297 of a bill [HF 2598*/SF 2411/CH 391] requiring public school students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance at least once a week (22 May 2002)
Contexto: I believe patriotism comes from the heart. Patriotism is voluntary. It is a feeling of loyalty and allegiance that is the result of knowledge and belief. A patriot shows their patriotism through their actions, by their choice.
Chapter 391 is not about choice. In Chapter 391, the State mandates patriotic actions and displays. Our government should not dictate actions. The United States of America exists because people wanted to be free to choose. All of us should have free choice when it comes to patriotic displays... a government wisely acting within its bounds will earn loyalty and respect from its citizens. A government dare not demand the same.
There is much more to being a patriot and a citizen than reciting the pledge or raising a flag. Patriots serve. Patriots vote. Patriots attend meetings in their community. Patriots pay attention to the actions of government and speak out when needed. Patriots teach their children about our history, our precious democracy and about citizenship. Being an active, engaged citizen means being a patriotic American every day. No law will make a citizen a patriot.

„Patriotism or any other version of the herd instinct seems to me an entirely inadequate basis of virtue. Christianity is from that point of view an explanation of and a support for an essential ingredient in man's nature—far the best, though necessarily imperfect.“

—  Robert Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood lawyer, politician and diplomat in the United Kingdom 1864 - 1958

Letter to Gilbert Murray (25 October 1948), quoted in Gilbert Murray : An Unfinished Autobiography (1960) edited by Jean Smith and Arnold Toynbee, p. 179

„Who knew an elf queen could be so vicious!“

—  Meg Cabot Novelist 1967

„We face a vicious circle of escalating violence.“

—  George Soros Hungarian-American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist 1930

Why We Must Not Reelect President Bush (2004)
Contexto: We face a vicious circle of escalating violence. President Bush ran on the platform of a "humble" foreign policy in 2000. If we re-elect him now, we endorse the Bush doctrine of preemptive action and the invasion of Iraq, and we will have to live with the consequences.

„Fights over ideas are the most vicious of all.“

—  Kim Stanley Robinson, livro Galileo's Dream

Fonte: Galileo's Dream (2009), Ch. 14, p. 329
Contexto: Fights over ideas are the most vicious of all. If it were merely food, or water, or shelter, we would work something out. But in the realm of ideas one can become idealistic.

„Activism is Patriotism.“

—  Julia Butterfly Hill American activist 1974

Slogan adopted by her (see also the picture on the right). Quoted in Julia Butterfly Hill: Activism is Patriotism http://www.treehugger.com/culture/julia-butterfly-hill-activism-is-patriotism.html, TreeHugger, December 2004.

„Through a vicious circle of pure reason skepsis itself becomes dogma.“

—  Johann Georg Hamann German philosopher 1730 - 1788

Briefwechsel, ed. Arthur Henkel (1955-1975), vol. V, p. 432.

„The reason that university politics is so vicious is that the stakes are so small.“

—  Henry Kissinger United States Secretary of State 1923

This remark was first attributed to Kissinger, among others, in the 1970s. The Quote Verifier (2006) attributes it to political scientist Paul Sayre, but notes earlier similar remarks by Woodrow Wilson. Clyde J. Wingfield referred to it as a familiar joke in The American University (1970)
Unattributed variants:
Somebody once said that one of the reasons academic infighting is so vicious is that the stakes are so small. There's so little at stake and they are so nasty about it.
The Craft of Crime : Conversations with Crime Writers (1983) by John C. Carr
The reason that academic politics is so vicious is that the stakes are so small.
Mentioned as an "old saw" in Teachers for Our Nation's Schools (1990) by John I. Goodlad
Misattributed