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?
“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