About this quote

Love of one's country curdles the moment it demands someone else's be despised. Framed this way, caring for your own people is just where a wider care happens to land first — never a wall against outsiders. The test is whether your loyalty makes you more humane or less.

When to use it

• A veteran volunteers to resettle refugees, seeing their safety as part of the country he served.
• A town proud of its heritage still welcomes newcomers instead of guarding the gates against them.
• A citizen criticizes his own government's abuses abroad, unwilling to cheer harm done in his name.