Careful Words

nation (n.)

nation (adv.)

nation (adj.)

  I knew a very wise man that believed that if a man were permitted to make all the ballads, he need not care who should make the laws of a nation.

Andrew Fletcher Of Saltoun (1653-1716): Letter to the Marquis of Montrose, the Earl of Rothes, etc.

And don't confound the language of the nation

With long-tailed words in osity and ation.

J Hookham Frere (1769-1846): The Monks and the Giants. Canto i. Line 6.

Into a world unknown,—the corner-stone of a nation!

Henry W Longfellow (1807-1882): The Courtship of Miles Standish. iv.

The wealthy curled darlings of our nation.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Othello. Act i. Sc. 2.

  God sifted a whole nation that he might send choice grain over into this wilderness.

William Stoughton (1631-1701): Election Sermon at Boston, April 29, 1669.

I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him.

He hates our sacred nation, and he rails,

Even there where merchants most do congregate.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): The Merchant of Venice. Act i. Sc. 3.

And don't confound the language of the nation

With long-tailed words in osity and ation.

J Hookham Frere (1769-1846): The Monks and the Giants. Canto i. Line 6.

  I knew a very wise man that believed that if a man were permitted to make all the ballads, he need not care who should make the laws of a nation.

Andrew Fletcher Of Saltoun (1653-1716): Letter to the Marquis of Montrose, the Earl of Rothes, etc.

Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!

Then conquer we must when our cause it is just,

And this be our motto, "In God is our trust!"

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Henry Clay (1777-1852): The Star-Spangled Banner.

A song for our banner! The watchword recall

Which gave the Republic her station:

"United we stand, divided we fall!"

It made and preserves us a nation!

The union of lakes, the union of lands,

The union of States none can sever,

The union of hearts, the union of hands,

And the flag of our Union forever!

George P Morris (1802-1864): The Flag of our Union.

And thought the nation ne'er would thrive

Till all the whores were burnt alive.

Matthew Prior (1664-1721): Paulo Purganti.

  Methinks I see in my mind a noble and puissant nation rousing herself like a strong man after sleep, and shaking her invincible locks; methinks I see her as an eagle mewing her mighty youth, and kindling her undazzled eyes at the full midday beam.

John Milton (1608-1674): Areopagitica.

  They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Old Testament: Isaiah ii. 4; Micah iv. 3.

  It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the Queen of France, then the Dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she just began to move in,—glittering like the morning star full of life and splendour and joy. . . . Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fallen upon her in a nation of gallant men,—in a nation of men of honour and of cavaliers. I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards to avenge even a look that threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded.

Edmund Burke (1729-1797): Reflections on the Revolution in France. Vol. iii. p. 331.

  It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the Queen of France, then the Dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she just began to move in,—glittering like the morning star full of life and splendour and joy. . . . Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fallen upon her in a nation of gallant men,—in a nation of men of honour and of cavaliers. I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards to avenge even a look that threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded.

Edmund Burke (1729-1797): Reflections on the Revolution in France. Vol. iii. p. 331.

Nation of shopkeepers.

Why should not conscience have vacation

As well as other courts o' th' nation?

Samuel Butler (1600-1680): Hudibras. Part ii. Canto ii. Line 317.

  Righteousness exalteth a nation.

Old Testament: Proverbs xiv. 34.

  A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation.

Old Testament: Isaiah lx. 22.

  It was alway yet the trick of our English nation, if they have a good thing to make it too common.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): King Henry IV. Part II. Act i. Sc. 2.

  The whole [Scotch] nation hitherto has been void of wit and humour, and even incapable of relishing it.

Horace Walpole (1717-1797): Letter to Sir Horace Mann, 1778.