“The maritime importance of a nation in the ways of commerce is not wholly measured by the numbers and tonnage of fast and luxurious steamships possessed, but rather by the countless smaller and perhaps unimposing vessels that carry its national flag to remote places.”

—  David Bone

The Lookoutman (1923), Chapter 6, Tramp Steamers, p. 97

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "The maritime importance of a nation in the ways of commerce is not wholly measured by the numbers and tonnage of fast a…" by David Bone?
David Bone photo
David Bone 1
commodore and author (b. 1874, d. 1959) 1874–1959

Related quotes

Calvin Coolidge photo

“We do not need a large land force. The present size of our regular Army is entirely adequate, but it should continue to be supplemented by a National Guard and Reserves, and especially with the equipment and organization in our industries for furnishing supplies. When we turn to the sea the situation is different. We have not only a long coast line, distant outlying possessions, a foreign commerce unsurpassed in importance, and foreign investments unsurpassed in amount, the number of our people and value of our treasure to be protected, but we are also bound by international treaty to defend the Panama Canal. Having few fuelling stations, we require ships of large tonnage, and, having scarcely any merchant vessels capable of mounting five- or six-inch guns, it is obvious that, based on positions, we are entitled to a larger number of warships than a nation having these advantages.”

Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933) American politician, 30th president of the United States (in office from 1923 to 1929)

Speech on Armistice Day in Washington (11 November 1928), quoted in The Times (12 December 1928), p. 11.
1920s

“For example, each nation is expected to have its own flag and national anthem.”

Michael Billig (1947) British psychologist

Source: Banal Nationalism (1995), p. 85

John Allen Fraser photo

“The purpose of privilege is not to place parliamentarians above the law, but rather to allow them to carry out their duties independently and effectively, in the national interest.”

John Allen Fraser (1931) Canadian politician

Source: The House Of Commons At Work (1993), Chapter 10, The Business of the House, p. 152

John F. Kennedy photo

“For one true measure of a nation is its success in fulfilling the promise of a better life for each of its members. Let this be the measure of our nation.”

John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) 35th president of the United States of America

Special message to the Congress on National Health Needs (65)" (27 February 1962) http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/Ready-Reference/JFK-Quotations.aspx
1962

Nassim Nicholas Taleb photo

“It is remarkable how fast and how effectively you can construct a nationality with a flag, a few speeches, and a national anthem; to this day I avoid the label "Lebanese," preferring the less restrictive "Levantine" designation.”

Nassim Nicholas Taleb (1960) Lebanese-American essayist, scholar, statistician, former trader and risk analyst

Source: The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable (2007), p. 5

H. H. Asquith photo

“We shall never sheathe the sword, which we have not lightly drawn, until Belgium recovers in full measure all, and more than all, that she has sacrificed; until France is adequately secured against the menace of aggression; until the rights of the smaller nationalities of Europe are placed upon an unassailable foundation; and until the military domination of Prussia is wholly and finally destroyed.”

H. H. Asquith (1852–1928) Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Speech at the Guildhall, London (9 November 1914), see [Swatridge, Colin, Oxford Guide to Effective Argument and Critical Thinking, https://books.google.com/books?id=fGbrAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT51, 2014, Oxford University Press, 978-0-19-165180-9, 51]
Prime Minister

Allen C. Guelzo photo

“Americans prided themselves on being a nation of peace, dedicated to the arts of commerce rather than the rapacity of empire and "the spirit of war."”

Allen C. Guelzo (1953) American historian

Source: 2010s, Gettysburg: The Last Invasion (2013), p. 9

Franklin D. Roosevelt photo

“The life of a nation is the fullness of the measure of its will to live.”

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) 32nd President of the United States

1940s, Third Inaugural Address (1941)
Context: Lives of nations are determined not by the count of years, but by the lifetime of the human spirit. The life of a man is three-score years and ten: a little more, a little less. The life of a nation is the fullness of the measure of its will to live.

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o photo

“The condition of women in a nation is the real measure of its progress.”

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o book Wizard of the Crow

Source: Wizard of the Crow

“A national anthem is a universal sign of particularity. The conventions of the oeuvre demand that the uniqueness of the nation be celebrated in a universally stylized manner. National anthems not only fit a common pattern, but it is part of their symbolism that they are seen to do so. They flag the nation as a nation among nations, as flags themselves do.”

Michael Billig (1947) British psychologist

Source: Banal Nationalism (1995), p. 86

Related topics