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Yet this corporate being, though so insubstantial to our senses, binds, in Burke's words, a man to his country with "ties which though light as air, are as strong as links of iron." That is why young men die in battle for their country's sake and why old men plant trees they will never sit under.

— Walter Lippmann Essays in the Public Philosophy (1955)

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More quotes by Walter Lippmann

You cannot endow even the best machine with initiative; the jolliest steam-roller will not plant flowers.

A Preface to Politics (1913)

Where all think alike, no one thinks very much.

The Stakes of Diplomacy (1915)

In a free society the state does not administer the affairs of men. It administers justice among men who conduct their own affairs.

The Good Society (1937)

The self-evident truth which makes men invincible is that inalienably they are inviolate persons.

The Good Society (1937)

It requires wisdom to understand wisdom: the music is nothing if the audience is deaf.

A Preface to Morals (1929)

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You can never plan the future by the past.

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If we don’t care about our past we can’t have very much hope for our future.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Walter Lippmann (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.