Quotes about homeland

page 89

“The surrender of the Belgian Army compelled the British at the shortest notice to cover a flank to the sea more than 30 miles in length. Otherwise all would have been cut off, and all would have shared the fate to which King Leopold had condemned the finest Army his country had ever formed.”

“Like every people on earth, my compatriots want to live in a democratic country, without fear for their future and the life and destiny of coming generations.”

“The future of the world order, of the United Nations and of every country, is our common future. Thus, while deciding today on the fate of the United Nations, we should be aware that we are also determining our own destiny.”

“The disappearance of a world divided into antagonistic systems is related to profound internal transformations in post-socialist countries. I am convinced of the need to establish the most favourable regime possible for those countries’ integration into the international community.”

“The workers are on the rise. There will be strikes all over the state and throughout the country because Delano has shown what can be done, and the workers know now they are no longer alone.”

“When once it is no longer possible to understand how a man gives his life for his country – and the time will come – then all is over with that faith also, and the idea of the Fatherland is dead; and then, perhaps, we shall be envied, as we envy the saints their inward and irresistible strength.”

“The real question that now divides the country and which truly divides the House of Commons, is church or no church. People talk of the war in Spain, and the Canada question. But all that is of little moment. The real question is church or no church.”

“Beyond the confines of my tiny country, my words seem to count for little, just as the anguished cry of my people still astonishingly leaves you mute and deaf. So I will continue to write until the silence is pierced.”

“The Women of Cumann na mBan

The struggle is a-fading
Drifting to history
Yet the importance of these women
Does not need persuading

In Belfast was Winnie Carney
Who worked for freedom’s gain
She was a trade unionist in Dublin
When Connolly was slain

Travelling the country
Was Bloxham from May-o
A magnificent orator
Her resignation was blow

We must mention Jen Wyse-Power
Once the president
She supported the Treaty
Which made everyone sour

It was the great Sorcha MacMahon
Moving to-and-from the Four Courts
Fundraising for dependants
And arranging the transports

Do not forget Maud Mitchell
The first Captain of the Midlands
The executive’s fine beauty
In Cork she gave commands

Of course, there was Maud Gonne
And Countess Markievicz
For many years great warriors
'Til on parliament they split

After many hours of conflict
Settles does the dust
Yet the ideals of these women
Carry on they must”

“Neocons say we attack them because they are Jewish. We do not. We attack them because their warmongering threatens our country.”

“In the treaty councils the commissioners have claimed that our country had been sold to the Government. Suppose a white man should come to me and say, "Joseph, I like your horses, and I want to buy them." I say to him, "No, my horses suit me, I will not sell them." Then he goes to my neighbor, and says to him: "Joseph has some good horses. I want to buy them, but he refuses to sell." My neighbor answers, "Pay me the money, and I will sell you Joseph's horses." The white man returns to me and says, "Joseph, I have bought your horses, and you must let me have them." If we sold our lands to the Government, this is the way they were bought.”

“I wonder, by my troth, what thou and I
Did, till we loved? Were we not weaned till then?
But sucked on country pleasures, childishly?
Or snorted we in the Seven Sleepers’ den?
’Twas so; but this, all pleasures fancies be.
If ever any beauty I did see,
Which I desired, and got, ’twas but a dream of thee.

And now good-morrow to our waking souls,
Which watch not one another out of fear;
For love, all love of other sights controls,
And makes one little room an everywhere.
Let sea-discoverers to new worlds have gone,
Let maps to other, worlds on worlds have shown,
Let us possess one world, each hath one, and is one.

My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears,
And true plain hearts do in the faces rest;
Where can we find two better hemispheres,
Without sharp north, without declining west?
Whatever dies, was not mixed equally;
If our two loves be one, or, thou and I
Love so alike, that none do slacken, none can die.”

“The warriors that fought for their country, and bled,
Have sunk to their rest; the damp earth is their bed;
No stone tells the place where their ashes repose,
Nor points out the spot from the graves of their foes.

They died in their glory, surrounded by fame,
And Victory's loud trump their death did proclaim;
They are dead; but they live in each Patriot's breast,
And their names are engraven on honor's bright crest.”

“Duty, Honor, Country - those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying point to build courage when courage seems to fail, to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith, to create hope when hope becomes forlorn...”

“And the reason we're going to win the nomination is because of you. Because soon or later, all Americans are going to learn what you've already learned; that the biggest lie told by people like me to people like you at election time is that, "If you vote for me, I'm going to solve all your problems." The truth is, the power to change this country is in your hands, not mine.”

“After that night on lake Gosser, I turned into a zesty 27-year-old ze/zir. after the funeral for my pops and my uncle Jonny, I went down to the bait shop to do a little fishin after I hada taco or two and did my hurdles for "cross country" (wink wink im mexican). I then put a roof on my penitas house and went to sleep in the fortress of dreams with a mecican flag above my head.”

“The irony is that so many countries are competing in arms races, they don't even care how many people have been and will be victims.”

“After time betrays history. We forget the words of the heroes. What did they shout when a bayonet pierced their chest or a bullet lodged in their head? There was blood that flowed soaking the earth. Not only fostering anger or revenge, but also love for the motherland. It was the overflow of a soul that wanted to fly to freedom. Still wanting to fight against death. For hopes, dreams, justice and truth. No longer shouting the word: "Merdeka!" but to uphold the dignity of our beloved country as high as possible.”

“The right does not deny the disappeared detainees: it manages them as silence. For them, they are not absent bodies but obstacles already overcome; and upon that well-ordered grave they build their idea of a country.”