--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You see, each country has a colour, a…" description: "\"“You see, each country has a colour, a smell, and also a contagious sickness. In my country the sickness is complacency. In France it's arrogance, and ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d28/gil-courtemanche-55563_art_you-see-each-country-has-a-colour-a-smel_2998197.jpg" --- # You see, each country has a colour, a smell, and also a… ![“You see, each country has a colour, a smell, and also a contagious sickness. In my country the sickness is complacency. In France it's arrogance, and in the United States it's ignorance." "What about Rwanda?" "Easy power and impunity. Here, there's total disorder. To someone who has a little money…” quote by Gil Courtemanche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d28/gil-courtemanche-55563_art_you-see-each-country-has-a-colour-a-smel_2998197.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d28/gil-courtemanche-55563_art_you-see-each-country-has-a-colour-a-smel_2998197.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d28/gil-courtemanche-55563_art_you-see-each-country-has-a-colour-a-smel_2998197.jpg) > ““You see, each country has a colour, a smell, and also a contagious sickness. In my country the sickness is complacency. In France it's arrogance, and in the United States it's ignorance." "What about Rwanda?" "Easy power and impunity. Here, there's total disorder. To someone who has a little money or powere, everything that seems forbidden elsewhere looks permissible and possible. All it takes is to dare it. Someone who's simply a liar in my country can be a fraud artist here, and the fraud artist gets to be a big-time thief. Chaos and most of all poverty give him powers he wouldn't have elsewhere.”” [Gil Courtemanche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gil-courtemanche/) ## 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 highlights how each nation harbors a dominant vice that fuels corruption and disorder, shaping behavior and power dynamics. **In simple terms:** Every country has a prevailing flaw that drives corruption. Key Takeaway Recognize and address systemic vices. Themes corruption power social dynamics Mood critical reflective Type analytical observational When to use this quote - government reform - anti‑corruption campaigns - public awareness - NGO advocacy Key Concepts Sociology political science ethics Questions to Reflect On - What systemic change could reduce these vices? - How do personal choices interact with national flaws? A Different Perspective The simplification may overlook individual agency and cultural nuance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Fraud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fraud/) ## Related quotes > [“We are preaching hope, standing on the bones of the past.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-rucyahana/we-are-preaching-hope-standing-on-the-bones-of-the-past/) [John Rucyahana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-rucyahana/) > [The United States is the lone superpower of the world. We have a stake in Rwanda's success because we have a stake in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swanee-hunt/the-united-states-is-the-lone-superpower-of-the-world-we-have-a-stake/) [Swanee Hunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swanee-hunt/) > [Rwanda is a landlocked country, but it hasn't stopped developing. They built a high-end tourism industry around the mountain gorillas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-zoellick/rwanda-is-a-landlocked-country-but-it-hasn-t-stopped-developing-they/) [Robert Zoellick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-zoellick/) > [“What I learned in Rwanda was that God is not absent when great evil is unleashed. 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I have seen him, I have smelled him and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rom-o-dallaire/i-know-there-is-a-god-because-in-rwanda-i-shook-hands-with-the-devil/) [Roméo Dallaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rom-o-dallaire/) > [Perhaps we have failed as human beings. Perhaps we have embarrassed ourselves to the natural world. We have been rigorous and willful in all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sufjan-stevens/perhaps-we-have-failed-as-human-beings-perhaps-we-have-embarrassed/) [Sufjan Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sufjan-stevens/) > [Almost 30 years before Rwanda, before Darfur, more than 2 million people – mothers, children, babies, civilians – lost their lives as a result…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chinua-achebe/almost-30-years-before-rwanda-before-darfur-more-than-2-million/) [Chinua Achebe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chinua-achebe/) ## More by Gil Courtemanche > [“I'm dying of AIDS, but I'm dying by accident. I didn't choose, it was a mistake. I thought it was a white's or homosexual's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gil-courtemanche/i-m-dying-of-aids-but-i-m-dying-by-accident-i-didn-t-choose-it-was-a/) [Gil Courtemanche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gil-courtemanche/) > [“What is a country for someone who is neither a soldier nor a rabid patriot? A place of subtle affinities, an implicit understanding between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gil-courtemanche/what-is-a-country-for-someone-who-is-neither-a-soldier-nor-a-rabid/) [Gil Courtemanche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gil-courtemanche/) > [“People, he told her, are shaped somehow by their climate and the land they live in. 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