On Patriotism
July 5, 2020
Chadds Ford Landscape, N.C. Wyeth
‘I GIVE all to my country, because I owe all to it. My country was first in giving. To its soil, to its sky I owe the bread which nourishes my body, and the wine which gladdens my heart, the azure sky and the dreams which have delighted my soul. In the language of my homeland I lisped the first words which faltered on my infant tongue, and named all the objects which charmed my youth. In the fields and woods of my native land, along the shores of its lakes and rivers, I gathered flowers which lent fragrance to my childhood. My own heart was molded on the heart of my country. In it and through it my home exists together with its treasures, sweet memories and rich traditions. To defend, save, and perpetuate all this, to the end that every family will be able to continue to expand itself in a shielded, intact and flourishing country I am ready to work, to struggle, and, if necessary, to die.
“I must be prepared for this in peace as well as in war, in sorrow as well as in joy. The moment the welfare of my country is at stake and my personal cooperation is demanded, nothing will justify my lack of loyalty. My personal misfortunes, my most secret heartbreaks, should not prevent the placing of my abilities and skill at the disposal of the fatherland.”
—- Marguerite Duportal, A Key to Happiness (Bruce Publishing Co, Milwaukee; 1943. Transl. Romuald Pecasse)
