"The Senator from Wisconsin cannot frighten me by exclaiming, "My country, right or wrong". In one sense I say so too. My country; and my country is the great American Republic. My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right."
— Right and wrong

January 1, 1970

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Ethics
Original Language: English

Sources

Carl Schurz, remarks in the Senate (February 29, 1872), The Congressional Globe, vol. 45, p. 1287. The Globe merely notes "[Manifestations of applause in the galleries]" but according to Schurz's biographer, "The applause in the gallery was deafening". This is "one of Schurz's most frequently quoted replies". Hans L. Trefousse, Carl Schurz: A Biography (1982), chapter 11, p. 180. Schurz expanded on this theme in a speech delivered at the Anti-Imperialistic Conference, Chicago, Illinois (October