"You see, my kind of loyalty was loyalty to one's country, not to its institutions or its office-holders. The country is the real thing, the substantial thing, the eternal thing; it is the thing to watch over, and care for, and be loyal to; institutions are extraneous, they are its mere clothing, and clothing can wear out, become ragged, cease to be comfortable, cease to protect the body from winter, disease, and death. To be loyal to rags, to shout for rags, to worship rags, to die for rags — that is a loyalty of unreason, it is pure animal; it belongs to monarchy, was invented by monarchy; let monarchy keep it. I was from Connecticut, whose Constitution declares "that all political power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on their authority and instituted for their benefit; and that they have — at all times — an undeniable and indefeasible right to alter their form of government in such a manner as they may think expedient."
by Mark Twain
from "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court"
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"Between the semi-educated, who offer simplistic answers to complex questions, and the over-educated, who offer complicated answers to simple questions, it is a wonder that any questions get satisfactorily settled at all." ~ Sidney J. Harris
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