齊來說愛國

所謂「愛國」愛的是甚麼，其實很含糊，中外亦如此。洋人還好，雖然在一般會話中 state, nation 和 country 會混雜使用，但嚴格來說三者還是有分別的，所以要討論起來還不至於太混亂。至於華人就很求其了，無論你愛的是中國所在的那片土地、住在上面的人，統治他們的當權者抑或是在國外飛踢洋人的那種亢奮，都一律以愛國名之。民建聯甚至說「沒有國，那有家」，彷彿自有人類開始國家便存在似的，比起那些主張「西藏自古以來便是中國的一部份」的人還要厲害。

近日環繞北京奧運的種種討論，無論政治立場為何，最令我不安的，是論者似乎通通都以「愛國」為正確。相互間爭論的頂多也是內地和本地憤青的行為算不算愛國。但我不明白：不愛國有甚麼不對？聽聽前人說愛國，對大家的思考或會有所助益。

愛國心是惡棍的最後靠山。（本地《銀河英雄傳說》的 fans 應該最熟悉這句。）
Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.
- Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

愛國心毀掉歷史。
Patriotism ruins history.
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)

愛國心是愚者的激情，也是最愚劣的激情。
Patriotism is the passion of fools and the most foolish of passions.
- Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

當整個民族都聲嘶力竭地叫著愛國的時候，我自覺要看看它雙手是否潔淨，內心是否純潔。
When a whole nation is roaring Patriotism at the top of its voice, I am fain to explore the cleanness of its hands and the purity of its heart.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), in "Journals" (1824)

愛國是一種宗教，是孵出戰爭的蛋。
Patriotism is a kind of religion; it is the egg from which wars are hatched.
- Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893)

愛國心是壞人的美德。
Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious.
- Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

愛國心是種只因你生於斯，便認為你的國家比其他國家優越的執念。
Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it.
- George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

愛國心是種有害、病態的愚行。
Patriotism is a pernicious, psychopathic form of idiocy.
- George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

在把愛國心從人類之中趕走之前，你不可能有平靜的世界。
You'll never have a quiet world till you knock the patriotism out of the human race.
- George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), in "Misalliance" (1909)

愛國心…是一種人為地創造、以謊言和謬誤之網維繫的迷信。它奪走人的自重及尊嚴，並增加他的自負和傲慢。
Patriotism ... is a superstition artificially created and maintained through a network of lies and falsehoods; a superstition that robs man of his self-respect and dignity, and increases his arrogance and conceit.
- Emma Goldman (1869-1940), in "Patriotism, a Menace to Liberty" (1911)

愛國就是甘願為了雞毛蒜皮的理由殺人和被殺。
Patriotism is the willingness to kill and be killed for trivial reasons.
- Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)

「無論對錯，祖國就是祖國」是任何愛國者不到絕望時也不會想到要說的話。它就像說「不管醉醒，她始終是我母親」。
"My country, right or wrong," is a thing that no patriot would think of saying except in a desperate case. It is like saying, "My mother, drunk or sober."
- Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936)

由上級安排的英勇行為、無意義的暴力及所有以愛國為名，令人可憎的胡言亂語，我是多麼咬牙切齒地厭惡！
Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism -- how passionately I hate them!
- Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

當權者總認為對他們的政策的批評是危險的。他們總把自己的政策等同愛國，把批評視為顛覆。
Men in authority will always think that criticism of their policies is dangerous. They will always equate their policies with patriotism, and find criticism subversive.
- Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998), in "Freedom, Loyalty and Dissent" (1954)

你不應讓愛國心矇蔽眼睛，不去面對現實。錯就是錯，不管誰說都一樣。
You're not supposed to be so blind with patriotism that you can't face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who says it.
- Malcolm X (1925-1965)