--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think Americans generally are not used…" description: "\"I think Americans generally are not used to working very hard, in terms of working for the collective. I think in our country we have taken individuali..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d52/alice-walker-347_american_i-think-americans-generally-are-not-used_3214721.png" --- # I think Americans generally are not used to working very… ![“I think Americans generally are not used to working very hard, in terms of working for the collective. I think in our country we have taken individualism to its farthest reaches, possibly.” quote by Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d52/alice-walker-347_american_i-think-americans-generally-are-not-used_3214721.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d52/alice-walker-347_american_i-think-americans-generally-are-not-used_3214721.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d52/alice-walker-347_american_i-think-americans-generally-are-not-used_3214721.png) > “I think Americans generally are not used to working very hard, in terms of working for the collective. I think in our country we have taken individualism to its farthest reaches, possibly.” [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote critiques American culture for valuing individual achievement over collective effort, suggesting a loss of communal work ethic. **In simple terms:** America values individualism over collective work. Key Takeaway Balance personal goals with community contribution. Themes individualism collectivism work ethic Mood critical reflective Type sociopolitical philosophical When to use this quote - workplace - community projects - policy making - education reform Key Concepts sociology political theory culture Questions to Reflect On - How can we foster teamwork without stifling individuality? - What benefits arise from collective effort? A Different Perspective Collectivism may suppress personal ambition. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [American](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american/) [Americans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/americans/) [Americans Generally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/americans-generally-897784/) [Collective](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collective/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Farthest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/farthest/) [Generally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generally/) [Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard/) [I think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/i-think/) [Individualism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individualism/) [Our](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/our/) [Possibly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possibly/) [Reaches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reaches/) [Taken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taken/) [Terms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terms/) [Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think/) [Think Americans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-americans/) [Used](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/used/) [Very](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/very/) [Working](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/working/) [Working hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/working-hard/) ## Related quotes > [The traditional family table is round. No corners. No sides. No head. No tail. Everything is smooth. The food is in the center, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deng-ming-dao/the-traditional-family-table-is-round-no-corners-no-sides-no-head-no/) [Deng Ming-Dao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deng-ming-dao/) > [Americans generally regard themselves as belonging to an exceptional nation. And in terms of living in a religiously tolerant and enormously diverse country, Americans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-bergen/americans-generally-regard-themselves-as-belonging-to-an-exceptional/) [Peter Bergen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-bergen/) > [Americans are generally decent and fair people with a commitment to sense, but some of us, swept up by our passions, wade too far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hamza-yusuf/americans-are-generally-decent-and-fair-people-with-a-commitment-to/) [Hamza Yusuf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hamza-yusuf/) > [Americans are generally very self-sufficient and I think generally averse to pretension, just as I am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-bodett/americans-are-generally-very-self-sufficient-and-i-think-generally/) [Tom Bodett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-bodett/) > [I am libertarian, and Americans generally are, more than, say, Canadians and Australians.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-salatin/i-am-libertarian-and-americans-generally-are-more-than-say-canadians/) [Joel Salatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-salatin/) > [What sense would it make to classify a man as handicapped because he is in a wheelchair today, if he is expected to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/what-sense-would-it-make-to-classify-a-man-as-handicapped-because-he/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [I have a collective sense of suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/i-have-a-collective-sense-of-suffering/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [Never be the only one, except, possibly, in your own home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/never-be-the-only-one-except-possibly-in-your-own-home/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [The farthest place on earth is the hour that is just over. Make the best use of the hour that has just begun!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-vaswani/the-farthest-place-on-earth-is-the-hour-that-is-just-over-make-the/) [Dada Vaswani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-vaswani/) > [“He gains the farthest reaches where the ache of our most ancient absence lay.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-cairns/he-gains-the-farthest-reaches-where-the-ache-of-our-most-ancient/) [Scott Cairns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-cairns/) > [After Mary Queen of Scots, I turned to the farthest subject possible: Cromwell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonia-fraser/after-mary-queen-of-scots-i-turned-to-the-farthest-subject-possible/) [Antonia Fraser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonia-fraser/) > [When my husband Jonas and I started Auntie Anne's in 1988, we never expected or anticipated building an international pretzel franchise. It was the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-f-beiler/when-my-husband-jonas-and-i-started-auntie-anne-s-in-1988-we-never/) [Anne F. Beiler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-f-beiler/) > [How often, when we have been nearest each other bodily, have we really been farthest off! Our tongues were the witty foils with which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/how-often-when-we-have-been-nearest-each-other-bodily-have-we-really/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Pick a flower on Earth and you move the farthest star.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-dirac/pick-a-flower-on-earth-and-you-move-the-farthest-star/) [Paul Dirac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-dirac/) > [“The man who goes farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare. The sure-thing boat never gets far from shore.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-carnegie/the-man-who-goes-farthest-is-generally-the-one-who-is-willing-to-do/) [Dale Carnegie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-carnegie/) ## More by Alice Walker > [I gave my archive to Emory University because there's a really dear friend who teaches there, Rudolph Byrd, and he's the editor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/i-gave-my-archive-to-emory-university-because-there-s-a-really-dear/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [Just be what it is that you are, and that is just fine. You don't have to be what you're not in any way.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/just-be-what-it-is-that-you-are-and-that-is-just-fine-you-don-t-have/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [“Remember this-- say it & know it is true: Alice loves me Alice loves me and I am not blamed for this. ... she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/remember-this-say-it-know-it-is-true-alice-loves-me-alice-loves-me/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [“Only the sky above us do we hold in common.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/only-the-sky-above-us-do-we-hold-in-common/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [“Why aren't you happy in America, if everyone there drives motorcars?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/why-aren-t-you-happy-in-america-if-everyone-there-drives-motorcars/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [“She saw poetry where other writers merely saw failure to cope with English.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/she-saw-poetry-where-other-writers-merely-saw-failure-to-cope-with/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [My mother had handed down respect for the possibilities...and the will to grasp them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/my-mother-had-handed-down-respect-for-the-possibilities-and-the-will/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [Helped are those who are content to be themselves; they will never lack mystery in their lives and the joys of self-discovery will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/helped-are-those-who-are-content-to-be-themselves-they-will-never/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [“As others might prepare for an exam whose subject matter is unknown to them, so I must study, cram, for every conversation with my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/as-others-might-prepare-for-an-exam-whose-subject-matter-is-unknown/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [The original crime of niggers and lesbians is that they prefer themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/the-original-crime-of-niggers-and-lesbians-is-that-they-prefer/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [My mother was very strong. Once, she picked up a coconut and smashed it against my father's head. It taught me about women defending…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/my-mother-was-very-strong-once-she-picked-up-a-coconut-and-smashed-it/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [Many readers fail to realize this, but 'The Color Purple' is a theological text. It is about the reclamation of one's original God: the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/many-readers-fail-to-realize-this-but-the-color-purple-is-a/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [The good news may be that Nature is phasing out the white man, but the bad news is that's who She thinks we all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/the-good-news-may-be-that-nature-is-phasing-out-the-white-man-but-the/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [Humans - whatever billions we are - we don't have the control. We are considered expendable, basically.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/humans-whatever-billions-we-are-we-don-t-have-the-control-we-are/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [All my life I had to fight. I had to fight my daddy. I had to fight my uncles. I had to fight my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/all-my-life-i-had-to-fight-i-had-to-fight-my-daddy-i-had-to-fight-my/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) [Explore all 654 Alice Walker quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) ## More American quotes > [I wasn't attracted to American cinema, but I fell in love with Los Angeles the minute I arrived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-varda/i-wasn-t-attracted-to-american-cinema-but-i-fell-in-love-with-los/) [Agnes Varda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-varda/) > [William Maxwell's my favorite North American writer, I think. 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The words I use are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-saroyan/although-i-write-in-english-and-despite-the-fact-that-i-m-from/) [William Saroyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-saroyan/) > [When we first sold the Wallace and Gromit shorts to America, people suggested we get rid of the strange British accents and put clear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-park/when-we-first-sold-the-wallace-and-gromit-shorts-to-america-people/) [Nick Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-park/) > [Firefighters and rescue workers are American superheroes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-kennedy/firefighters-and-rescue-workers-are-american-superheroes/) [Kerry Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-kennedy/) > [France has not only built a bureaucratic barrier against American culture, it has constructed a notorious intellectual case against it as well. 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But it's just as important for the U.S. never to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-bauer/it-s-important-for-american-soldiers-to-be-culturally-sensitive-when/) [Gary Bauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-bauer/) [Browse all 7,717 American quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think Americans generally are not used to working very hard, in terms of working for the collective. 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