Patriotism is the opposite of selfish individualism.

Humanity is on the march, earth itself is left behind.

Will the things that are being lost - the wilderness, the plants and animals, the skills, and all the others - leave too vast a gap in the human spirit? This is the unanswerable question. In the meantime, we must live in our century and wait, enduring somehow the unavoidable sadness.

Patriotism is the admission that people who share a land, a place, and a history have a special obligation to that place and to each other.