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?

  • antrosapien@lemmy.ml
    51·
    2 hours ago

    Should I kill myself, or have a cup of coffee? But in the end one needs more courage to live than to kill himself.

    ~ Camus

  • vipaal@aussie.zone
    3·
    3 hours ago

    The pleasure of being understood is underrated

    • Simon Baker portraying Patrick Jane in The Mentalist
  • agnomeunknown@lemmy.mlEnglish
    81·
    5 hours ago

    Not so much a quote as a poem, but it’s brief so here’s the whole thing:

    They fuck you up, your mum and dad. They may not mean to, but they do. They fill you with the faults they had And add some extra, just for you.

    But they were fucked up in their turn By fools in old-style hats and coats, Who half the time were soppy-stern And half at one another’s throats.

    Man hands on misery to man, It deepens like a coastal shelf. Get out as early as you can, And don’t have any kids yourself.

    • “This Be the Verse” by Philip Larkin

    As for what it means to me, I think it speaks for itself. It’s bleak and devastating, yet beautiful. I love the elegance and simplicity of the writing. It’s the only poem I have memorized because it’s so aesthetically pleasing and emotionally resonant. It has stuck with me since I first heard it over 10 years ago.

  • ikidd@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    4 hours ago

    Hitchens on the death of Jerry Falwell: “If they gave his corpse an enema, they could bury him in a matchbox.”

  • temporal_spider@lemm.eeEnglish
    5·
    10 hours ago

    “Like they should have stopped Hitler at Munich, they should never let him get away with that, they was just asking for bad trouble.” Peter Clemenza, The Godfather

    • Cadenza@lemmy.worldOP
      3·
      2 hours ago

      Recently, I learned about a historical quote, from French PM Daladier on his way back from Munich where he knew he gave everything to Hitler.

      He got out his plane, expecting to be lynched or thrown oranges at, and people, when he realized people were praising him as a herald of “peace”, let out this magnificent “Ah… what a bunch of idiots”.

  • imakeninjascry@lemmy.world
    17·
    14 hours ago

    “When you do things right, people won’t be sure you’ve done anything at all.” -A clump of talking stars in Futurama I look at it like being a good custodian or someone who takes pride in the smallest details of their work, regardless of whether or not you receive recognition for them. Most people don’t notice the effort being put in when things are running smoothly. The work of the people behind the scenes is directly responsible for successes in the spotlight.

  • Cadenza@lemmy.worldOP
    5·
    11 hours ago

    Oh and there’s also this one ftom H2G2 :

    Slartibartfast: Perhaps I’m old and tired, but I think that the chances of finding out what’s actually going on are so absurdly remote that the only thing to do is to say, “Hang the sense of it,” and keep yourself busy. I’d much rather be happy than right any day. Arthur Dent: And are you? Slartibartfast: Ah, no. [laughs, snorts] Slartibartfast: Well, that’s where it all falls down, of course

  • tetris11@lemmy.ml
    27·
    18 hours ago

    “True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country.” ~ Kurt Vonnegut