Country Quote by Ben Dreyfuss
“Nietzsche said that everyone tells themselves the story of their life. That's true about countries, too. We're constantly telling ourselves the American story.”
About This Quote
Source Podcast: History discussion, 2021
People craft personal narratives, and nations similarly construct collective stories about themselves.
In simple terms: People and nations tell stories about themselves.
Key Takeaway
Question the narratives we accept.
Themes
identity
storytelling
nationhood
Mood
critical
inquisitive
Type
historical
philosophical
When to use this quote
- education
- media
- political discourse
- culture
Key Concepts
Narrative theory
collective memory
Questions to Reflect On
- What stories shape your identity?
- How do national myths affect policy?
A Different Perspective
Stories can obscure facts.
![“[Friedrich] Nietzsche said something marvellous, he said "Madness is not a consequence of uncertainty but of certainty", and this is fanaticism.” quote by Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/c8e/elie-wiesel-341_certainty_friedrich-nietzsche-said-something-marve_89498.jpg)
![“Other people had strived for freedom and promise and ratatatata but the Constitution [of USA] was the first time we codified it aspirationally and wrote it down and put it up on a wall and said, "this is us." If your father was a cobbler, and his father was a cobbler, and his father was a cobbler…” quote by Ben Dreyfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/b5c/ben-dreyfuss-43214_cobblers_other-people-had-strived-for-freedom-and_267365.jpg)
![“That country [Carthage] was rapidly sinking into the state of barbarism from whence it had been raised by the Phoenician colonies and Roman laws; and every step of intestine discord was marked by some deplorable victory of savage man over civilized society.” quote by Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/70c/edward-gibbon-710_barbarism_that-country-carthage-was-rapidly-sinkin_393.jpg)
