patriotism

Love of one's country; devotion to the welfare of one's compatriots; passion which inspires one to serve one's country.

That public virtue, which among the ancients was denominated patriotism, is derived from a strong sense of our own interest in the preservation and prosperity of the free government of which we are members.

In the hour of death we shall have the consolation to see established in the land of our fathers the most wonderful work of wisdom and disinterested patriotism that has ever yet appeared on the globe.

The actions of a patriot

The desire to compete sharply with, and perhaps also dominate, other nations; nationalism.

Near-synonyms: chauvinism, superpatriotism

Patriotism cannot be good. What produces war is the desire for an exclusive good for one’s own nation – that is called patriotism. And so to abolish war, it is necessary to abolish patriotism, and to abolish patriotism, it is necessary first to become convinced that it is an evil.