“The idea of the Nation is one of the most powerful anaesthet…”

“The idea of the Nation is one of the most powerful anaesthetics that Man has invented. Under the influence of its fumes the whole people can carry out its systematic programme of the most virulent self-seeking without being in the least aware of its moral perversion,-in fact feeling dangerously resentful if it is pointed out.”

— Rabindranath Tagore

Verification

Attributed

Recorded by a reliable secondary source; exact wording may differ.

Imported from Wikiquote; not yet checked by QuoteQuest against the original source.

Source

Title: Wikiquote: Rabindranath Tagore
Type: reference · Secondary source
Held by: Wikiquote

View source at Wikiquote

Context

"Nationalism in the West", 1917. Reprinted in Rabindranath Tagore and Mohit K. Ray, Essays (2007, p. 465). Also cited in Parmanand Parashar, Nationalism: Its Theory and Principles in India (1996, p. 212), and Himani Bannerji, Demography and Democracy: Essays on Nationalism, Gender and Ideology. (201

Cite this source

Tagore, Rabindranath. (n.d.). Wikiquote: Rabindranath Tagore. Wikiquote. https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rabindranath_Tagore

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Provenance: Wikiquote (CC BY-SA)