Denis Diderot, Observations on the Drawing Up of Laws (written in 1774 for Catherine the Great; published 1921)
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Patriotism is an ephemeral motive that scarcely ever outlasts the particular threat to society that aroused it.

— Denis Diderot on Patriotism

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Patriotism is an ephemeral motive that scarcely ever outlasts the particular threat to society that aroused it." in the context of "Denis Diderot, Observations on the Drawing Up of Laws (written in 1774 for Catherine the Great; published 1921)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Patriotism" (D) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Denis Diderot

About Denis Diderot

Denis Diderot (5 October 1713 – 31 July 1784) was a French philosopher and chief editor of the historic project to produce L'Encyclopédie.