--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My country, right or wrong; if right, to…" description: "\"My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right\" — Carl Schurz" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/064/carl-schurz-28664_patriotism_my-country-right-or-wrong-if-right-to-be_2872795.png" --- # My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right… ![“My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right” quote by Carl Schurz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/064/carl-schurz-28664_patriotism_my-country-right-or-wrong-if-right-to-be_2872795.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/064/carl-schurz-28664_patriotism_my-country-right-or-wrong-if-right-to-be_2872795.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/064/carl-schurz-28664_patriotism_my-country-right-or-wrong-if-right-to-be_2872795.png) > “My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right” [Carl Schurz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schurz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A nation must be corrected when wrong and preserved when right, emphasizing moral vigilance. **In simple terms:** Fix wrongs, keep rights. Key Takeaway Uphold moral standards in governance. Themes politics ethics governance Mood determined hopeful Type political ethical When to use this quote - legislative debates - public policy - citizen activism Key Concepts civic duty moral philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What defines “right” in politics? - How to correct without destabilizing? A Different Perspective Balancing correction with stability can be contentious. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Country Right](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country-right-301943/) [Kept Right](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kept-right-888603/) [Patriotism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patriotism/) [Right](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/right/) [Right Kept](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/right-kept-1122669/) [Right or wrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/right-or-wrong/) [Set Right](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/set-right-793937/) ## Related quotes > [Our country, right or wrong. When right, to be kept right; when wrong, to be put right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schurz/our-country-right-or-wrong-when-right-to-be-kept-right-when-wrong-to/) [Carl Schurz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schurz/) > [Our country ... when right, to be kept right. When wrong, to be put right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schurz/our-country-when-right-to-be-kept-right-when-wrong-to-be-put-right/) [Carl Schurz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schurz/) > [Tis not, 'my country right or wrong'; tis, 'my country, that which is right to be kept right, that which is wrong to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schurz/tis-not-my-country-right-or-wrong-tis-my-country-that-which-is-right/) [Carl Schurz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schurz/) > [My country right or wrong; when right, to keep her right; when wrong, to put her right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schurz/my-country-right-or-wrong-when-right-to-keep-her-right-when-wrong-to/) [Carl Schurz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schurz/) > [The Senator from Wisconsin cannot frighten me by exclaiming, My country, right or wrong. In one sense I say so too. My country; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schurz/the-senator-from-wisconsin-cannot-frighten-me-by-exclaiming-my/) [Carl Schurz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schurz/) > [My country, Right or Wrong, is a thing that no patriot would think of saying except in a desperate case. It is like saying,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/my-country-right-or-wrong-is-a-thing-that-no-patriot-would-think-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The single most important impediment to global institutions is the concept of "my country, right or wrong".](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/u-thant/the-single-most-important-impediment-to-global-institutions-is-the/) [U Thant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/u-thant/) > [MY COUNTRY, RIGHT OR WRONG.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-decatur/my-country-right-or-wrong/) [Stephen Decatur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-decatur/) > [That pernicious sentiment, "Our country, right or wrong."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/that-pernicious-sentiment-our-country-right-or-wrong/) [James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) > [Hereditary right should be kept sacred, not from any inalienable right in a particular family, but to avoid the consequences that usually attend the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/hereditary-right-should-be-kept-sacred-not-from-any-inalienable-right/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [God just kept me on the right path. I never smoked, drank, none of that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tee-grizzley/god-just-kept-me-on-the-right-path-i-never-smoked-drank-none-of-that/) [Tee Grizzley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tee-grizzley/) > [Without my family, I'm nothing. They kept me in the right place. I believe that I'm the luckiest person in the country when I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-s-rajamouli/without-my-family-i-m-nothing-they-kept-me-in-the-right-place-i/) [S. S. Rajamouli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-s-rajamouli/) > [If you are to be kept right, you must possess either good friends or red-hot enemies. The one will warn you, the other will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diogenes/if-you-are-to-be-kept-right-you-must-possess-either-good-friends-or/) [Diogenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diogenes/) > [You don't have to worry about whether the car is set up right or not, you know it is, and it's down to you.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby-rahal/you-don-t-have-to-worry-about-whether-the-car-is-set-up-right-or-not/) [Bobby Rahal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobby-rahal/) > [If the men in North do not mend their ways, then women will set them right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirron-kher/if-the-men-in-north-do-not-mend-their-ways-then-women-will-set-them/) [Kirron Kher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirron-kher/) ## More by Carl Schurz > [Tis not, 'my country right or wrong'; tis, 'my country, that which is right to be kept right, that which is wrong to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schurz/tis-not-my-country-right-or-wrong-tis-my-country-that-which-is-right/) [Carl Schurz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schurz/) > [We have come to a point where it is loyalty to resist, and treason to submit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schurz/we-have-come-to-a-point-where-it-is-loyalty-to-resist-and-treason-to/) [Carl Schurz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schurz/) > [I confidently trust that the American people will prove themselves ... too wise not to detect the false pride or the dangerous ambitions or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schurz/i-confidently-trust-that-the-american-people-will-prove-themselves/) [Carl Schurz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schurz/) > [“Ideals are like stars; you will not succeed in touching them with your hands, but like the sea fearing man on the desert of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schurz/ideals-are-like-stars-you-will-not-succeed-in-touching-them-with-your/) [Carl Schurz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schurz/) > [The Senator from Wisconsin cannot frighten me by exclaiming, My country, right or wrong. In one sense I say so too. My country; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schurz/the-senator-from-wisconsin-cannot-frighten-me-by-exclaiming-my/) [Carl Schurz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schurz/) > [My country right or wrong; when right, to keep her right; when wrong, to put her right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schurz/my-country-right-or-wrong-when-right-to-keep-her-right-when-wrong-to/) [Carl Schurz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schurz/) > [When the life of the nation was attempted, when the cause of liberty and human rights called for their aid, they rushed forth to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schurz/when-the-life-of-the-nation-was-attempted-when-the-cause-of-liberty/) [Carl Schurz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schurz/) > [Our country ... when right, to be kept right. When wrong, to be put right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schurz/our-country-when-right-to-be-kept-right-when-wrong-to-be-put-right/) [Carl Schurz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schurz/) > [If you want to be free, there is but one way; it is to guarantee an equally full measure of liberty to all your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schurz/if-you-want-to-be-free-there-is-but-one-way-it-is-to-guarantee-an/) [Carl Schurz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schurz/) > [Consider: if you incorporate those tropical countries with the Republic of the United States, you will have to incorporate their people too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schurz/consider-if-you-incorporate-those-tropical-countries-with-the/) [Carl Schurz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schurz/) > [I will make a prophecy that may now sound peculiar. In fifty years Lincoln's name will be inscribed close to Washington's on this Republic's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schurz/i-will-make-a-prophecy-that-may-now-sound-peculiar-in-fifty-years/) [Carl Schurz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schurz/) > [I have always been in favor of a healthy Americanization, but that does not mean a complete disavowal of our German heritage. It means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schurz/i-have-always-been-in-favor-of-a-healthy-americanization-but-that/) [Carl Schurz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schurz/) > [Ideals are like stars; you will not succeed in touching them with your hands. But like the seafaring man on the desert of waters,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schurz/ideals-are-like-stars-you-will-not-succeed-in-touching-them-with-your-2/) [Carl Schurz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schurz/) > [Ideals are like the stars: we never reach them, but like the mariners of the sea, we chart our course by them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schurz/ideals-are-like-the-stars-we-never-reach-them-but-like-the-mariners/) [Carl Schurz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schurz/) > [Our country, right or wrong. When right, to be kept right; when wrong, to be put right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schurz/our-country-right-or-wrong-when-right-to-be-kept-right-when-wrong-to/) [Carl Schurz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schurz/) [Explore all 19 Carl Schurz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schurz/) ## More Patriotism quotes > [That's what this country is. It's made up of immigrants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bria-vinaite/that-s-what-this-country-is-it-s-made-up-of-immigrants/) [Bria Vinaite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bria-vinaite/) > [You have expressive nationalism, I mean very identity driven, which shaped each other a lot of that in the Middle East.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/subrahmanyam-jaishankar/you-have-expressive-nationalism-i-mean-very-identity-driven-which/) [Subrahmanyam Jaishankar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/subrahmanyam-jaishankar/) > [The rich people are apparently leaving America. They're giving up their citizenship. These great lovers of America who made their money in this country-when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/the-rich-people-are-apparently-leaving-america-they-re-giving-up/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [I am not a nationalist in any way, and I hate flag waving, and I don't think much good has come out of nationalism.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stellan-skarsgard/i-am-not-a-nationalist-in-any-way-and-i-hate-flag-waving-and-i-don-t/) [Stellan Skarsgard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stellan-skarsgard/) > [In this choice of inheritance we have given to our frame of polity the image of a relation in blood; binding up the constitution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/in-this-choice-of-inheritance-we-have-given-to-our-frame-of-polity/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [She might be without country, without nation, but inside her there was still a being that could exist and be free, that could simply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-maas/she-might-be-without-country-without-nation-but-inside-her-there-was/) [Sharon Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-maas/) > [To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-be-a-negro-in-this-country-and-to-be-relatively-conscious-is-to-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Patriotism is a fierce love for the nation’s soul - its land, its people, its core, coupled with a burning contempt for a government…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/njau-kihia/patriotism-is-a-fierce-love-for-the-nation-s-soul-its-land-its-people/) [Njau Kihia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/njau-kihia/) > [There is no patriotic art and no patriotic science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/there-is-no-patriotic-art-and-no-patriotic-science/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Cricket, politics, and cinema is what a majority in our country are most passionate about. They have the power to divide the best of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vijay-deverakonda/cricket-politics-and-cinema-is-what-a-majority-in-our-country-are/) [Vijay Deverakonda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vijay-deverakonda/) > [“A man full of warm, speculative benevolence may wish his society otherwise constituted than he finds it; but a good patriot, and a true…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/a-man-full-of-warm-speculative-benevolence-may-wish-his-society/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [The Patriot Act is certainly a concern; all of those things are dangerous. I think more important than me preaching is that we as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-clooney/the-patriot-act-is-certainly-a-concern-all-of-those-things-are/) [George Clooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-clooney/) > [Anybody can be good in the country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/anybody-can-be-good-in-the-country/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [I will do everything I can always for my country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felipe-massa/i-will-do-everything-i-can-always-for-my-country/) [Felipe Massa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felipe-massa/) > [All the people in Korea are cheering me like I'm a gold medalist or something, so I have a responsibility to my country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/psy/all-the-people-in-korea-are-cheering-me-like-i-m-a-gold-medalist-or/) [PSY](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/psy/) [Browse all 5,882 Patriotism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patriotism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Carl Schurz" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schurz/my-country-right-or-wrong-if-right-to-be-kept-right-and-if-wrong-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Patriotism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schurz/my-country-right-or-wrong-if-right-to-be-kept-right-and-if-wrong-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/064/carl-schurz-28664_patriotism_my-country-right-or-wrong-if-right-to-be_2872795.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/064/carl-schurz-28664_patriotism_my-country-right-or-wrong-if-right-to-be_2872795.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/064/carl-schurz-28664_patriotism_my-country-right-or-wrong-if-right-to-be_2872795.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right” — Carl Schurz", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Carl Schurz", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schurz/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "My country, right or wrong; if...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schurz/my-country-right-or-wrong-if-right-to-be-kept-right-and-if-wrong-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schurz/my-country-right-or-wrong-if-right-to-be-kept-right-and-if-wrong-to/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```