On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

by Timothy Snyder

A patriot, by contrast, wants the nation to live up to its ideals, which means asking us to be our best selves. A patriot must be concerned with the real world, which is the only place where his country can be loved and sustained. A patriot has universal values, standards by which he judges his nation, always wishing it well—and wishing that it would do better.

If none of us is prepared to die for freedom, then all of us will die under tyranny.