--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There comes a time when the nation is…" description: "\"There comes a time when the nation is great than an individual\" — James Mwenda" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/628/james-mwenda-245590_identity_there-comes-a-time-when-the-nation-is-gr_843767.jpg" --- # There comes a time when the nation is great than an… ![“There comes a time when the nation is great than an individual” quote by James Mwenda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/628/james-mwenda-245590_identity_there-comes-a-time-when-the-nation-is-gr_843767.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/628/james-mwenda-245590_identity_there-comes-a-time-when-the-nation-is-gr_843767.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/628/james-mwenda-245590_identity_there-comes-a-time-when-the-nation-is-gr_843767.jpg) > “There comes a time when the nation is great than an individual” James Mwenda ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. An assertion that collective identity can outweigh individual importance, prompting reflection on patriotism and personal responsibility. **In simple terms:** Nation may be valued over the individual. Key Takeaway Balance collective and personal goals. Themes nationalism individualism identity politics ethics Mood thoughtful concerned Type essay philosophical When to use this quote - public policy - community service - personal career decisions Key Concepts political philosophy social contract Questions to Reflect On - When should national interest trump personal? - How to protect individual rights? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) [Nation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nation/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [Time, to the nation as to the individual, is nothing absolute; its duration depends on the rate of thought and feeling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-william-draper/time-to-the-nation-as-to-the-individual-is-nothing-absolute-its/) [John William Draper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-william-draper/) > [We don't have time as a nation to spend all of what we do blocking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-murkowski/we-don-t-have-time-as-a-nation-to-spend-all-of-what-we-do-blocking/) [Lisa Murkowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-murkowski/) > [What we need now is a nation of great people who live to positively impact others and build enduring legacies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-we-need-now-is-a-nation-of-great-people-who-live-to-positively/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The English nation is never so great as in adversity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/the-english-nation-is-never-so-great-as-in-adversity/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [I announce the great individual, fluid as Nature, chaste, affectionate, compassionate, fully armed; I announce a life that shall be copious, vehement, spiritual, bold,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/i-announce-the-great-individual-fluid-as-nature-chaste-affectionate/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [I speak very highly of Jim Thome. Not only is he a great player, but he's a great individual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harmon-killebrew/i-speak-very-highly-of-jim-thome-not-only-is-he-a-great-player-but-he/) [Harmon Killebrew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harmon-killebrew/) > [It was an experience that was exceptional. People frequently ask what it was like and it truly was inspiring. Sometimes during his lifetime, people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sexton/it-was-an-experience-that-was-exceptional-people-frequently-ask-what/) [John Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sexton/) > [Michael Jordan was a great individual and a great player. You can't say enough about what he brought to the game. He took the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-starks/michael-jordan-was-a-great-individual-and-a-great-player-you-can-t/) [John Starks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-starks/) > [ He was a great individual. People that don't know Patrick \[Ewing\] and only see what they read in the paper don't know this is… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-starks/he-was-a-great-individual-people-that-don-t-know-patrick-ewing-and/) [John Starks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-starks/) > [No nation is so great as to be able to afford, in the long run, to remain outside an increasingly universal League of Nations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hjalmar-branting/no-nation-is-so-great-as-to-be-able-to-afford-in-the-long-run-to/) [Hjalmar Branting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hjalmar-branting/) > [“Blind patriotism on the part of its leaders and citizens, far from leading a nation to greatness, will only bring ruin, disgrace and misery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keat-peng-goh/blind-patriotism-on-the-part-of-its-leaders-and-citizens-far-from/) Keat Peng Goh > [Liberty is the great parent of science and of virtue; and a nation will be great in both in proportion as it is free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/liberty-is-the-great-parent-of-science-and-of-virtue-and-a-nation/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Remember that our nation's first great leaders were also our first great scholars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/remember-that-our-nation-s-first-great-leaders-were-also-our-first/) [John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/) > [While the nation that has dared to be great, that has had the will and the power to change the destiny of the ages,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/while-the-nation-that-has-dared-to-be-great-that-has-had-the-will-and/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [What makes a nation great is not primarily its great men, but the stature of its innumerable mediocre ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/what-makes-a-nation-great-is-not-primarily-its-great-men-but-the/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) ## More Identity quotes > [I don't doubt that straight white men have identity issues and identity complexes and struggle with defining themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-simien/i-don-t-doubt-that-straight-white-men-have-identity-issues-and/) [Justin Simien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-simien/) > [In the hearing world, I'm constantly having to lip-read and trying to understand what's going on. Sign language is so beautiful. It gives you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-ayling-ellis/in-the-hearing-world-i-m-constantly-having-to-lip-read-and-trying-to/) [Rose Ayling-Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-ayling-ellis/) > [I think the next 50 years are going to present the human race with challenges that so far exceed the limitations of geopolitical boundaries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zachary-quinto/i-think-the-next-50-years-are-going-to-present-the-human-race-with/) [Zachary Quinto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zachary-quinto/) > [You have expressive nationalism, I mean very identity driven, which shaped each other a lot of that in the Middle East.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/subrahmanyam-jaishankar/you-have-expressive-nationalism-i-mean-very-identity-driven-which/) [Subrahmanyam Jaishankar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/subrahmanyam-jaishankar/) > [Family over friends, because real friends are family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/family-over-friends-because-real-friends-are-family/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I think everybody, or the great majority of human beings, have this aspiration to become other: to live a different identity, at least for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/i-think-everybody-or-the-great-majority-of-human-beings-have-this/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [The language we share is at the core of our identity as citizens, and our ticket to full participation in American political life. 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Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [She might be without country, without nation, but inside her there was still a being that could exist and be free, that could simply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-maas/she-might-be-without-country-without-nation-but-inside-her-there-was/) [Sharon Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-maas/) > [“Self-realization or self-knowing or awakening is about knowing/ becoming conscious of our true nature and living in harmony with the universe in an ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-vazhakunnathu/self-realization-or-self-knowing-or-awakening-is-about-knowing/) [Thomas Vazhakunnathu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-vazhakunnathu/) > [“There are some things that one individual can do for another, and there are some things that one race can do for another. But,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t-washington/there-are-some-things-that-one-individual-can-do-for-another-and/) [Booker T. 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Dalton [Browse all 11,949 Identity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There comes a time when the nation is great than an individual", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "James Mwenda" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mwenda/there-comes-a-time-when-the-nation-is-great-than-an-individual/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Identity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mwenda/there-comes-a-time-when-the-nation-is-great-than-an-individual/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/628/james-mwenda-245590_identity_there-comes-a-time-when-the-nation-is-gr_843767.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/628/james-mwenda-245590_identity_there-comes-a-time-when-the-nation-is-gr_843767.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/628/james-mwenda-245590_identity_there-comes-a-time-when-the-nation-is-gr_843767.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There comes a time when the nation is great than an individual” — James Mwenda", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "James Mwenda", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mwenda/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There comes a time when the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mwenda/there-comes-a-time-when-the-nation-is-great-than-an-individual/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mwenda/there-comes-a-time-when-the-nation-is-great-than-an-individual/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```