Quote of the Day (Jill Lepore, Differentiating Patriotism From Nationalism)

“Patriotism is animated by love, nationalism by hatred.”— Harvard Univ. history professor Jill Lepore, This America: The Case for the Nation (2019)

Quote of the Day (Mark Twain, on Loyalty to Country Vs. Institutions or Officeholders)

“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."

Song Lyric of the Day (John Latouche and Earl Robinson, on America)

“Our country's strong, our country's young

And her greatest songs are still unsung.”— “Ballad for Americans,” composed by John Latouche (1914-1956), and Earl Robinson (1910-1991), for Sing for Your Supper (1939)

Please let it be so…

Quote of the Day (Cicero, on Why ‘We Are Not Born for Ourselves Alone’)

“We are not born for ourselves alone;… our country claims a part in us, our parents a part, our friends a part.”—Roman orator and politician Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 B.C.-43 B.C.), De Officiis (“On Moral Duties”), 44 B.C., translated by Andrew P. Peabody

Quote of the Day (Noel Coward, on Hopes for One’s Country)

“Let’s drink to the hope that one day this country of ours, which we love so much, will find dignity and peace again.”—British playwright, actor, and composer Sir Noel Coward (1899-1973), Cavalcade (1931)

Movie Quote of the Day (‘Animal House,’ With the Clarence Darrow of Delta House)

(At the Student Court involving Delta House, Dean Wormer has made abundantly clear that the disciplinary proceedings will be stacked against the fraternity. The defense could only be taken on by an attorney for the damned, like Clarence Darrow—that, or…)

Otter (played by Tim Matheson) (leaping to his feet): “Point of parliamentary procedure!”

Hoover (played by James Widdoes) (whispering to Otter): “Don't screw around, they're serious this time!

Otter (to Hoover): “Take it easy, I'm pre-law.”

Boon (played by Peter Riegert) (to Otter): “I thought you were pre-med.”

Otter (to Boon): “What's the difference?”

[Addressing the room]

Otter: “Ladies and gentlemen, I'll be brief. The issue here is not whether we broke a few rules, or took a few liberties with our female party guests - we did.”

[Winks at Dean Wormer—whose wife he has just seduced.]

Otter: “But you can't hold a whole fraternity responsible for the behavior of a few, sick twisted individuals. For if you do, then shouldn't we blame the whole fraternity system? And if the whole fraternity system is guilty, then isn't this an indictment of our educational institutions in general? I put it to you, Greg - isn't this an indictment of our entire American society? Well, you can do whatever you want to us, but we're not going to sit here and listen to you badmouth the United States of America. Gentlemen!”

[Leads the Deltas out of the hearing, all humming the Star-Spangled Banner]— Animal House (1978), screenplay by Harold Ramis, Douglas Kenney, and Chris Miller, directed by John Landis