To such persons, or at least at such moments, loyalty is
conceived as something brilliantly emotional, as a passion of devotion.
The second class of those who are fond of the word "loyalty" are the
warriors and their admirers. To such persons loyalty means a willingness
to do dangerous service, to sacrifice life, to toil long and hard for
the flag that one follows. But for a third type of those who employ the
word, loyalty especially means steady, often unobtrusive, fidelity to
more or less formal obligations, such as the business world and the
workshop impose upon us. Such persons think of loyalty as, first of all,
faithfulness in obeying the law of the land, or in executing the plans
of one's official superiors, or in serving one's employer or one's
client or one's chief, or one's fraternity or other social union. In
this sense the loyal servant may be obscure and unemotional. But he is
trustworthy. Now, a word which thus so forcibly appeals to the lovers
who want to express their passionate devotion, and also to the soldiers
who want to name that obstinate following of the flag which makes
victory possible; a word which business men also sometimes use to
characterize the quietly and industriously faithful employee who obeys
orders, who betrays no secrets, and who regards the firm's interest as
his own;--well, such a word, I think, is not as much ambiguous as deep
in its meaning.
Pages:
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643