"I would rather see the United States respected than loved by other nations"
About this Quote
Respect is the currency of hard power, and Henry Cabot Lodge is telling you he’d rather be paid in something spendable than in applause. The line is bluntly transactional: love is fickle, sentimental, and (in diplomatic terms) cheap; respect is what keeps rivals cautious, allies disciplined, and markets open. Coming from a late-19th/early-20th-century Republican senator and leading voice of American nationalism, it’s also a tidy mission statement for an emerging empire that wanted to be taken seriously on the world stage without being constrained by the niceties of international approval.
The subtext is a warning against confusing popularity with security. Lodge’s era was thick with debates over expansion, naval buildup, and America’s role after the Spanish-American War. “Respected” implies leverage: a nation that can deter, impose terms, and act unilaterally if needed. “Loved” implies dependence on other people’s feelings - the kind of moral vanity that can tempt a country into performative altruism or, worse, hesitation when interests are at stake.
Rhetorically, the sentence works because it frames a choice most voters instinctively understand. In personal life, being loved feels better; in politics, being respected feels safer. Lodge converts that gut-level distinction into a foreign-policy ethos: better to be feared a little, resented occasionally, but never ignored. It’s a realist creed disguised as common sense, and that disguise is precisely its power.
The subtext is a warning against confusing popularity with security. Lodge’s era was thick with debates over expansion, naval buildup, and America’s role after the Spanish-American War. “Respected” implies leverage: a nation that can deter, impose terms, and act unilaterally if needed. “Loved” implies dependence on other people’s feelings - the kind of moral vanity that can tempt a country into performative altruism or, worse, hesitation when interests are at stake.
Rhetorically, the sentence works because it frames a choice most voters instinctively understand. In personal life, being loved feels better; in politics, being respected feels safer. Lodge converts that gut-level distinction into a foreign-policy ethos: better to be feared a little, resented occasionally, but never ignored. It’s a realist creed disguised as common sense, and that disguise is precisely its power.
Quote Details
| Topic | Respect |
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