Full Idea
We must not have any other love than charity. A nation cannot be an object of charity. But a country can be one - as an environment bearing traditions which are eternal. Every country can be that.
Gist of Idea
Charity is the only love, and you can feel that for a country (a place with traditions), but not a nation
Source
Simone Weil (Gravity and Grace (9 extracts) [1943], p.146)
Book Reference
Weil,Simone: 'An Anthology' [Penguin 1986], p.146
A Reaction
This definitely strikes a chord with me. I am English and British to the core, but don't feel any love at all for the current central institutions of the state. But I love my island, and its history, and its culture, and its style.