Textbook Quote
Just thought I'd throw this up because it made me smile.
"It is commonplace in the Western historical tradition to speak of nations as if they were individuals possessing emotions, making choices, taking actions, having ideas. 'Russia turned inward'; 'Germany chose its enemies as well as its friends'; 'France vowed revenge'; 'Great Britain took pride in its achievements.' On one level, to attribute volition, feeling, and insight to an abstract entity such as a nation is nonsense. But on another level, the personification of nation-states was one of the great achievements of statesmen throughout Europe between 1850 and 1870. The language and symbols they put in place created the nation itself, a new political reality whose forms contained a modern political consciousness. The nation-state became an all-knowing being whose rights had to be protected, whose destiny had to be assured." - Civilization in the West by Kishlansky, Geary and O'Brien.
XD
"It is commonplace in the Western historical tradition to speak of nations as if they were individuals possessing emotions, making choices, taking actions, having ideas. 'Russia turned inward'; 'Germany chose its enemies as well as its friends'; 'France vowed revenge'; 'Great Britain took pride in its achievements.' On one level, to attribute volition, feeling, and insight to an abstract entity such as a nation is nonsense. But on another level, the personification of nation-states was one of the great achievements of statesmen throughout Europe between 1850 and 1870. The language and symbols they put in place created the nation itself, a new political reality whose forms contained a modern political consciousness. The nation-state became an all-knowing being whose rights had to be protected, whose destiny had to be assured." - Civilization in the West by Kishlansky, Geary and O'Brien.
XD