How can a thinking man, a native of the word, be anything but the most wary and provisional of patriots? The nation-state is founded on myths of instauration and of militant glory. It perpetuates itself by lies and half-truths (machine guns and sub-machine guns). In his model of the social contract, Rousseau declared unequivocally that there is a contradiction between humanity and citizenship: "Forcé de combattre la nature ou les institutions socials, il faut opter entre faire un home ou un citoyen; car on ne peut pas faire à la fois l'un et l'autre." The consequence is stark: "a patriot is hard on strangers, for they are but men."

George Steiner