I'm an advocate of the great Dr. Johnson, the English man of letters who said that patriotism was the last refuge of the scoundrel.
Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.
Whether or not patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel, national security can be the last refuge of the tyrant.
If patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel, it is not merely because evil deeds may be performed in the name of patriotism, but because patriotic fervor can obliterate moral distinctions altogether.
Patriotism is the last refuge to which a scoundrel clings.
Those who believe patriotism to be the last refuge of the scoundrel have underestimated compassion.
What every Englishman thinks about patriotism, the last refuge of a scoundrel.
I have formed a very clear conception of patriotism. I have generally found it thrust into the foreground by some fellow who has something to hide in the background. I have seen a great deal of patriotism; and I have generally found it the last refuge of the scoundrel.
When Dr. Johnson defined patriotism as the last refuge of a scoundrel, he ignored the enormous possibilities of the word reform.
They say that patriotism is the last refuge to which a scoundrel clings steal a little and they throw you in jail. Steal a lot and then they make you king.
Patriotism, n. Combustible rubbish ready to the torch of any one ambitious to illuminate his name. In Dr. Johnson's famous dictionary patriotism is defined as the last resort of a scoundrel. With all due respect to an enlightened but inferior lexicographer I beg to submit it is the first.
Safety is the last refuge of the scoundrel!
Patriotism: The first resort of a scoundrel.
The first derivative is the last refuge of a scoundrel.
Public office is the last refuge of the scoundrel.
A technical objection is the first refuge of a scoundrel.