James Reston Quotes

We must differentiate between loyalty to one’s country and blind loyalty to the policy that a particular administration happens to be carrying out.

My country, right or wrong," is a thing that no patriot would think of saying, except in a desperate case. It is like saying, "My mother, drunk or sober.

That we are to stand by the President right or wrong is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.

Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.

Patriotism without criticism has no head; criticism without patriotism has no heart..

Politics has become a little like football. We cheer for our favorite team no matter how well they are playing.

I am a big fan of the following priorities: first the country, then the party and then the person. I believe that this gives credibility and I want to be credible.

Patriotism does not mean giving blind loyalty and a blank check to George W. Bush.

The highest patriotism is not a blind acceptance of official policy, but a love of one's country deep enough to call her to a higher plain.

I've always thought that you don't love a country by turning a blind eye to its crimes and to a problem. The way that you love a country is by seeing everything that it's done wrong, all of its mistakes, and still thinking that it's beautiful and that it's worthy.

You know those Navy SEALs, they weren't Democrats and Republicans. They were just doing what was best for America. Wouldn't that be a great country if all of you Americans were just like that? You followed orders, you marched in step and you followed my agenda.

Patriotism is the religion of hell.

That is no use at all. What I want is men who will support me when I am in the wrong.

Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious.

You never tear your President down.

Like other ideals, patriotism varies from a noble devotion to a moral lunacy.

John F. Kennedy once said, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." I have never understood why this utterance, which in essence urges everyone to volunteer themselves as unquestioning slaves, guinea pigs and cannon fodder to a grasping state, is quoted with such reverence. What Kennedy should have said is this: “Ask lots of very pointed questions about what your country promises to do for you, and don't forget to ask exactly what it proposes to do to you. Then pick the place that offers the best deal. You will be doing a favour not only to yourself, but potentially to all of mankind.”

He is my President …. When the President asks you to do something, you say yes.

When you choose a leader, follow him as a man, not as a god.

I don’t know what is happening in Vietnam because the only news sources I have are North Vietnamese. But whatever the position of my government is, I believe in it, I support it, and I will support it as long as I live.

I think those who have followed my political life would have known that I don't believe in just blind loyalty.

There are but two parties now: traitors and patriots. And I want hereafter to be ranked with the latter and, I trust, the stronger party.

To be a patriot, one had to say, and keep on saying, "Our Country, right or wrong," and urge on the little war. Have you not perceived that that phrase is an insult to the nation?

I want to caution that we must not confuse patriotism with blind endorsement of bad policies.

There are too many people who imagine that there is something sophisticated about always believing the best of those who hate your country, and the worst of those who defend it.