Even better if you can provide your own understanding of its meaning.

Mine would be :

“Nothing kills a man as much as being forced to represent a country” (and err considering the context, I must stress it has nothing to do with the current US shitshow), by a WW1 soldier, illustrator and writer named Jacques Vaché.

For me it just means being forced into representing a group (national, of course, but maybe also social, racial, sexual, professional, any kind of group) or defining one’s identity only by reference to a group is to be avoided at all costs.

Note : Its not the same, imho, as engaging in a collective struggle or defense against a common oppression.

How about you?

  • krinks73@lemm.ee
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    18 days ago

    “The stone cannot know why the chisel cleaves it. The iron cannot know why the fire scorches it. When thy life is cleft and scorched; when death and sadness leap at thee, beat not thy breast and curse thy evil fate. But thank The Builder for the trials which shape thee.”

    From Thief: The Dark Project

  • sproid@lemmy.ml
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    27 days ago

    Feelings are like children, you can’t let them drive, but you can’t put them in the trunk.”

    But I feel that one has a ¨spiritual parent¨:

    “Educate a child so you don’t have to reprimand an adult.”

    and a ¨spiritual sibling¨:

    “If your only tool is a Hammer then every problem looks like a Nail.”

  • Kaliax@lemmy.sdf.org
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    26 days ago

    Never tie your identity to something that can be taken away. Re: job title, salary, perceived status. Your self perceived identity should have a much more stable foundation.

  • Goldholz@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    23 days ago

    “Pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source” - Iroh

    And

    “Curiously enough, the only thing that went through the mind of the bowl of petunias as it fell was Oh no, not again. Many people have speculated that if we knew exactly why the bowl of petunias had thought that we would know a lot more about the nature of the universe than we do now.” - Hitchhikers Guide

    Dont think about things too much. Just accept it, and change accordingly with a response