From My Readings

On Rootedness

The Southerner always thinks of himself as being from somewhere, as belonging to some spot of earth . . . He is a Virginian, or he is a Georgian in a sense that I have never encountered in the Middle West–though Indiana Hoosiers may offer a fair approximation. . . The pride of local attachment is a fact which has two sides; it is a vice and a virtue. It may lead to conceit, complacency, and ignorance of the world outside. It frequently does lead to an exaggerated estimate of the qualities and potentialities of the particular region or province. . . But on the other side, provincialism is a positive force . . . [Provincialism] is your belief in yourself, in your neighborhood, in your reality. It is patriotism without belligerence.

Richard Weaver, The Southern Essays of Richard Weaver (Liberty Press), pp. 224-225.