Con tal disposición y determinación, ¡qué país es éste para el viajero, donde la más mísera posada está tan llena de aventuras como un castillo encantado y cada comida es en sí un logro! ¡Que se quejen otros de la falta de buenos caminos y hoteles suntuosos y de todas las complicadas comodidades de un país culto y civilizado en la mansedumbre y el lugar común, pero a mí que me den el trepar por las ásperas montañas, el andar por ahí errante y las costumbres medio salvajes, pero francas y hospitalarias, que le dan un sabor tan exquisito a la querida, vieja y romántica España!

Within him, as he hurled himself forward, was born a love, a despairing fondness for this flag which was near him. It was a creation of beauty and invulnerability. It was a goddess, radiant, that bended its form with an imperious gesture to him. It was a woman, red and white, hating and loving, that called him with the voice of his hopes. Because no harm could come to it he endowed it with power. He kept near, as if it could be a saver of lives, and an imploring cry went from his mind.

The love of one's country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border?

Una de las muchachas era hermosa. Llevaba un bulto envuelto en un pañuelo con un diseño blanco de mil grullas sobre un fondo rosado de crespón

En la bandera de la libertad bordé el amor más grande de mi vida.

I’ve always thought that God placed Spain where He did to keep things organized.” Don Ramón arranged dishes and rolls to represent Europe. “Lesser nations all around her. Portugal here, and what a sorry land that is. France up here, a bunch of troublemakers. England over here, accch!” The harsh guttural showed what he thought of England. “And down here the despicable Moors, enemies of God and man.” In the center of this maelstrom of failed nations and infidels he placed a bright orange: “Spain: God’s bastion of reason, and stability, and all the things that represent goodness in this life.

To make us love our country, our country ought to be lovely.

I once had a beautiful homeland: it was a dream....

Here is your country. Cherish these natural wonders, cherish the natural resources, cherish the history and romance as a sacred heritage, for your children and your children's children. Do not let selfish men or greedy interests skin your country of its beauty, its riches or its romance.

Love for one's country is great but why should that love stop at that border?

Identification with the rag called the national flag is an emotional and sentimental factor and for that factor you are willing to kill another - and that is called, the love of your country, love of the neighbor . . .? One can see that where sentiment and emotion come in, love is not.

Mucho, señora, daría
Por tender sobre tu espalda
Tu cabellera bravía,
Tu cabellera de gualda:
Despacio la tendería,
Callado la besaría.

Por sobre la oreja fina
Baja lujoso el cabello,
Lo mismo que una cortina
Que se levanta hacia el cuello.
La oreja es obra divina
De porcelana de China.

Mucho, señora, te diera
Por desenredar el nudo
De tu roja cabellera
Sobre tu cuello desnudo:
Muy despacio la esparciera,
Hilo por hilo la abriera

Meet me in a land of hopes and dreams.

why not a beauty like Murcia near the Mediterranean, or Jaén in the mountains, or Oviedo, where the relics of Christ were kept? “Why Badajoz?