Citizenship

(338 votes)   A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the high virtues of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation.

Thomas Jefferson
1743-1826, Third President of the USA

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(173 votes)   Our citizenship in the United States is our national character. Our citizenship in any particular state is only our local distinction. By the latter we are known at home, by the former to the world. Our great title is AMERICANS -- our inferior one varies with the place.

Thomas Paine
1737-1809, Anglo-American Political Theorist, Writer

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(153 votes)   The true courage of civilized nations is readiness for sacrifice in the service of the state, so that the individual counts as only one amongst many. The important thing here is not personal mettle but aligning oneself with the universal.

Georg Hegel
1770-1831, German Philosopher

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