这句话并不见于萨缪尔·约翰逊的任何著作,而是出自于约翰逊的好友、英国传记学家詹姆斯·包斯威尔(James Boswell)为其写的《约翰逊传》。原文如下:Patriotism having become one of our topicks, Johnson suddenly uttered, in a strong determined tone, an apophthegm, at which many will start: 'Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.' But let it be considered, that he did not mean a real and generous love of our country, but that pretended patriotism which so many, in all ages and countries, have made a cloak for self-interest.
(当我们开始讨论起爱国主义时,约翰逊突然以坚决的语调吐出了一条惊世骇俗的警句:“爱国主义是流氓最后的庇护所”。但需要注意的是,他指的并不是对我们国家真诚、无私的爱,而是那种伪装出的爱国主义。在所有的时代、所有的国家,无数人曾经以这样的爱国主义掩盖了私利。)——《约翰逊传》英文版252页。重点是我所加。因此,这句话并不像现在被普遍引用的那样,是在普遍意义上对爱国主义的批判。显然,约翰逊批判的对象是以爱国主义谋取私利的人。包斯威尔在《约翰逊传》的其他地方也描述过约翰逊的爱国主义立场:
[He] was at all times indignant against that false patriotism, that pretended love of freedom, that unruly restlessness, which is inconsistent with the stable authority of any good government.
(他无时无刻不在愤慨地反对那种虚伪的爱国主义,那种假装的自由之爱,那种混乱的躁动,那种与良政的稳定权力相冲突的情感。)这段话的背景是,约翰逊与朋友产生了关于“(英国)国王是否会犯罪”的争论。约翰逊站在国王一边,反对朋友的“革命观点”。他认为
Political institutions are formed upon the consideration of what will most frequently tend to the good of the whole, although now and then exceptions may occur. Thus it is better in general that a nation should have a supreme legislative power, although it may at times be abused.
(政制的建立,是基于最大地照顾公利的考量,尽管例外也会偶尔出现。因此国家拥有至高的立法权威才是一般意义上更好的情况,尽管权威也会时而遭到滥用。)实际上,萨缪尔·约翰逊是一个不折不扣的爱国者。他反对的是借着爱国的名义损害国家的行为。而约翰逊认为虚伪的对自由的追求只会破坏稳定的政制,为国家徒增混乱。因此,“虚伪的爱国主义”所指在此。