<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><B>Balanchine's All-American Dedication</B><P>JENNIFER DUNNING The New York Times<P>New York City and the nation are awash in patriotic sentiment. George Balanchine would probably have been one of the most fervent of flag-wavers.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><a href=http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/20/arts/dance/20GEOR.html target=_blank><B>More</B></a><p>[This message has been edited by Azlan (edited November 20, 2001).]

Ben Franklin said Patriotism was a very dangerous thing.

Do you have a citation for that? I'm unfamiliar with Franklin's having said such a thing. I know that Samuel Johnson said that "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel," but it's generally believed that the Good Doctor was disparaging scoundrels, not sincere patriots.<p>[This message has been edited by salzberg (edited November 30, 2001).]

Salzberg: I am also stumped. Only quote I am familiar with from Mr. Franklin is:<P>"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."<P>Seems that Samuel Clemens may have co-opted the Samuel Johnson comment in an address at the College of the City of New York in 1908: "Patriotism is usually the refuge of the scoundrel. He is the man who talks the loudest."<P><BR><p>[This message has been edited by wordfox (edited December 05, 2001).]