Skip to content
Shawords

Quote#Homeland

There seems no reason why patriotism and narrowness should go…

Quote byHerman Melville · 1819–1891

Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War (1866), Supplement.

English (original)

There seems no reason why patriotism and narrowness should go together, or why intellectual impartiality should be confounded with political trimming, or why serviceable truth should keep cloistered be a cause not partisan. Yet the work of Reconstruction, if admitted to be feasible at all, demands little but common sense and Christian charity. Little but these? These are much.

— Herman Melville

More from Herman Melville