Sunday, April 27, 2008

Patriotism is devotion to an ideal

"Patriotism is not something you put on each morning like a clean shirt. Patriotism is not something you can buy at the super market. Patriotism is not something you can get in return for a monthly paycheck to a man in uniform. It is devotion to an ideal—a principle; a burning desire that the things that people think are best for their country and its people are protected from erosion—protected from any and everything which would tend to lessen in the mind of the individual the image he has of how things should be in his ideal country."

— General David M. Shoup, former Commandant of the Marine Corps

2 comments:

cat said...

Oo-rah, Captain.
I'm a total right-wing conservative, so you might say I'm a bit patriotic, too. :)
Cat

JohnE said...

Shoup was about as far from right wing conservative as a Marine Commandant could be. He called it like he saw it, disdained war and those who would send us to war. ead up on him and Smedley Butler if you are in the mood for a paradigm shift...