PATRIOT, n. One to whom the interests of a part seem superior to those of the whole. The dupe of statesmen and the tool of conquerors.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Patriot,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)
(Source)
Originally published in the "Cynic's Word Book" column in the New York American (1904-12-26) and the "Cynic's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Examiner (1904-01-03).
Those newspaper versions also included:A person whose zeal for the defense of his country’s altars and fires is not inconsistent with a fierce desire to cross the border to overturn the altars and extinguish the fires of another land.
See Bierce's definition of "Patriotism."
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