“My kind of loyalty was
loyalty to one's country, not to its institutions or its officeholders. The
country is the real thing, the substantial thing, the eternal thing; it is the
thing to watch over, and care for, and be loyal to; institutions are
extraneous, they are its mere clothing, and clothing can wear out, become
ragged, cease to be comfortable, cease to protect the body from winter,
disease, and death."—American novelist Mark Twain (1835-1910),
A
Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889)Beware of a leader wedded to a proprietary adjective: i.e., referring to "my generals," "my military," "my Kevin," even "my blacks" and "my Jews." That is the type of leader that Twain warned against: one who expects loyalty to a country's "officeholders."
No comments:
Post a Comment