Seas of blood have been shed for the sake of patriotism. One would expect the harm and irrationality of patriotism to be self-evident to everyone. But the surprising fact is that cultured and learned people not only do not notice the harm and stupidity of patriotism, they resist every unveiling of it with the greatest obstinacy and passion (with no rational grounds), and continue to praise it as beneficent and elevating.
Leo TolstoyThe time is fast approaching when to call a man a patriot will be the deepest insult you can offer him. Patriotism now means advocating plunder in the interest of the privileged classes of the particular State system into which we have happened to be born.
Leo TolstoyLove. The reason I dislike that word is that it means too much for me, far more than you can understand." - Anna Karenina {Anna Karenina}
Leo TolstoyRummaging in our souls, we often dig up something that ought to have lain there unnoticed.
Leo Tolstoy