Sayings about Nations
Few laws, good nations. ~ German Proverbs
Sometimes the whole nation has to pay for the foolish deed of one man. ~ German Proverb
A nation’s treasure is its scholars. ~ Yiddish Proverb
The ruin of a nation begins in the homes of its people. ~ Ghanaian Proverbs
If there is light in the soul, there will be beauty in the person. If there is beauty in the person, there will be harmony in the house. If there is harmony in the house, there will be order in the nation. If there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world. ~ Chinese Proverbs
Happy nations have no history. ~ Belgian Proverbs
The hand that rocks the cradle rules the nation and its destiny. ~ South African Proverb
Easier to rule a nation than a son. ~ Chinese Proverb
Quotations about Nations
It is not what we have that will make us a great nation; it is the way in which we use it. ~ Theodore Roosevelt
Nations, like stars, are entitled to eclipse. All is well, provided the light returns and the eclipse does not become endless night. Dawn and resurrection are synonymous. The reappearance of the light is the same as the survival of the soul. ~ Victor Hugo
A nation’s strength ultimately consists in what it can do on its own, and not in what it can borrow from others. ~ Indira Gandhi
Great nations write their autobiographies in three manuscripts — the book of their deeds, the book of their words and the book of their art. ~ John Ruskin
No nation was ever ruined by trade.~ Benjamin Franklin
The life of a nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous. ~ Frederick Douglass
All people are a single nation. ~ The Holy Qur’an
The nation that secures control of the air will ultimately control the world. ~ Alexander Graham Bell
The strength of a nation, especially of a republican nation, is in the intelligent and well ordered homes of the people. ~ Lydia H. Sigourney
A nation or civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on the installment plan.~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home. ~ Confucius
Nationality is the aggregated individuality of the greatest men of the nation. ~ Louis Kossuth
We do not covet anything from any nation except their respect. ~ Winston Churchill
As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live. ~ John Paul II
Can a nation be free if it oppresses other nations? It cannot. ~ Vladimir Lenin
The greater number of nations, as of men, are only impressible in their youth; they become incorrigible as they grow old. ~ Jean-Jacques Rousseau
A nation is a society united by delusions about its ancestry and by common hatred of its neighbors. ~ William Ralph Inge
A nation’s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people. ~ Mohandas Gandhi
A nation is the same people living in the same place. ~ James Joyce
I would rather belong to a poor nation that was free than to a rich nation that had ceased to be in love with liberty. ~ Woodrow T. Wilson
A nation as a society forms a moral person, and every member of it is personally responsible for his society. ~ Thomas Jefferson
The Youth of a Nation are the trustees of posterity. ~ Benjamin Disraeli
The genius, wit, and the spirit of a nation are discovered by their proverbs. ~ Francis Bacon
As nations improve, so do their gods. ~ Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
Faith crosses every border and touches every heart in every nation. ~ George W. Bush
No nation can be destroyed while it possesses a good home life. ~ Josiah Gilbert Holland
Nations, as well as individuals, are mortal. ~ Oliver B. Seward
The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated. ~ Mahatma Gandhi
The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten. ~ Calvin Coolidge
The nation that destroys its soil destroys itself. ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
No nation became great by becoming rich. Neither does a man find enduring satisfaction in life by owning something — only by becoming something. ~ Norman Vincent Peale
Nations have always good reasons for being what they are, and the best of all is that they cannot be otherwise. ~ Marquis De Custine
You can tell the ideals of a nation by its advertisements. ~ Norman Douglas
Nations, like men, have their infancy. ~ Henry Bolingbroke
He who controls the money supply of a nation controls the nation. ~ James A. Garfield
A nation never falls but by suicide. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
That nation is proudest and noblest and most exalted which has the greatest number of really great men. ~ Sinclair Lewis
Even if I died in the service of the nation, I would be proud of it. Every drop of my blood… will contribute to the growth of this nation and to make it strong and dynamic. ~ Indira Gandhi
A nation is not conquered which is perpetually to be conquered. ~ Edmund Burke
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation when they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.~ Martin Luther King Jr.
A nation which makes the final sacrifice for life and freedom does not get beaten. ~ Kemal Ataturk
A strong nation, like a strong person, can afford to be gentle, firm, thoughtful, and restrained. It can afford to extend a helping hand to others. It’s a weak nation, like a weak person, that must behave with bluster and boasting and rashness and other signs of insecurity. ~ Jimmy Carter
The United States is a nation of laws: badly written and randomly enforced. ~ Frank Zappa
From a single crime know the nation. ~ Virgil
A nation is a thing that lives and acts like a man and men are the particles of which it is composed. ~ Josiah Gilbert Holland
The nation will find it very hard to look up to the leaders who are keeping their ears to the ground. ~ Winston Churchill
A great nation is any mob of people which produces at least one honest man a century. ~ Henry Louis Mencken
If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under. ~ Ronald Reagan
Men may be linked in friendship. Nations are linked only by interests. ~ Rolf Hochhuth
Our nation must come together to unite. ~ George W. Bush
Discontent is the first step in the progress of a man or a nation. ~ Oscar Wilde
Worthless is the nation that does not gladly stake its all on its honor. ~ Johann Friedrich Von Schiller
Nations, like individuals, interest us in their growth. ~ Walter Savage Landor
The English nation is never so great as in adversity. ~ Benjamin Disraeli
You can tell the strength of a nation by the women behind its men. ~ Benjamin Disraeli
A nation’ s strength ultimately consists in what it can do on its own, and not in what it can borrow from others.~ Indira Gandhi
The glory of a nation and an age is always the work of a few great persons, and it disappears with them. ~ Baron Grimm
Individuals may form communities, but it is institutions alone that can create a nation. ~ Benjamin Disraeli
In every particular state of the world, those nations which are strongest tend to prevail over the others; and in certain marked peculiarities the strongest tend to be the best. ~ Walter Bagehot
In a healthy nation there is a kind of dramatic balance between the will of the people and the government, which prevents its degeneration into tyranny. ~ Albert Einstein
The United Nations: A Very Short Introduction. Book preview
