--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Nationality was the most pernicious…" description: "\"Nationality was the most pernicious, depersonalizing, homogenizing label that could ever be attached to the human individual.\" — Rolf Hochhuth" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7e/rolf-hochhuth-62682_humans_nationality-was-the-most-pernicious-depe_2952582.jpg" --- # Nationality was the most pernicious, depersonalizing… ![“Nationality was the most pernicious, depersonalizing, homogenizing label that could ever be attached to the human individual.” quote by Rolf Hochhuth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7e/rolf-hochhuth-62682_humans_nationality-was-the-most-pernicious-depe_2952582.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7e/rolf-hochhuth-62682_humans_nationality-was-the-most-pernicious-depe_2952582.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7e/rolf-hochhuth-62682_humans_nationality-was-the-most-pernicious-depe_2952582.jpg) > “Nationality was the most pernicious, depersonalizing, homogenizing label that could ever be attached to the human individual.” [Rolf Hochhuth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rolf-hochhuth/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Nationality reduces individuals to a homogenizing label, stripping personal identity. **In simple terms:** Nationality erases personal identity. Key Takeaway Resist reductive labels. Themes identity nationality humanity politics Mood critical reflective Type political philosophical When to use this quote - immigration policy - cultural studies - personal narrative Key Concepts philosophical social critique Questions to Reflect On - How can we honor both identity and belonging? - What alternatives to nationality exist? A Different Perspective Some view nationality as protective. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) [Labels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labels/) ## Related quotes > [But a most pernicious error widely prevails that Scripture has only so much weight as is conceded to it by the consent of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/but-a-most-pernicious-error-widely-prevails-that-scripture-has-only/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) > [If after having been exposed to someone's presence you feel as if you've lost a quart of plasma, avoid that presence. You need it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/if-after-having-been-exposed-to-someone-s-presence-you-feel-as-if-you/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [Some have said that the clash between Catholicism and Protestantism illustrates the old maxim that religious freedom is the product of two equally pernicious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fareed-zakaria/some-have-said-that-the-clash-between-catholicism-and-protestantism/) [Fareed Zakaria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fareed-zakaria/) > [We see no where the pernicious effects of luxury on a republic more than in that of the ancient Romans, who immediately found itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/we-see-no-where-the-pernicious-effects-of-luxury-on-a-republic-more/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Men's consciences ought in no sort to be violated, urged, or constrained. And whenever men have attempted any thing by this violent course, whether…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-williams/men-s-consciences-ought-in-no-sort-to-be-violated-urged-or/) [Roger Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-williams/) > [Delia Smith is, actually, my bete noire. I consider her a most pernicious influence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/delia-smith-is-actually-my-bete-noire-i-consider-her-a-most/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [“none of Dr. Copeland’s tips would cure someone suffering from pernicious anemia.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-scott-williams/none-of-dr-copeland-s-tips-would-cure-someone-suffering-from/) [R. Scott Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-scott-williams/) > [A program of "disarmament," while imperialist antagonisms survive, is the most pernicious of fictions. Even if it were realized by way of general agreement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-trotsky/a-program-of-disarmament-while-imperialist-antagonisms-survive-is-the/) [Leon Trotsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-trotsky/) > [Atheism in legislation, indifference in matters of religion, and the pernicious maxims which go under the name of Liberal Catholicism are the true causes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-pius-ix/atheism-in-legislation-indifference-in-matters-of-religion-and-the/) [Pope Pius IX](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-pius-ix/) > [Suspending moral judgment is not the immorality of the novel; it is its morality. The morality that stands against the ineradicable human habit of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/suspending-moral-judgment-is-not-the-immorality-of-the-novel-it-is/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [I always have a high regard for the individual and have an insuperable distaste for violence and clubmanship. All these motives made me into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/i-always-have-a-high-regard-for-the-individual-and-have-an/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Once slavery in America was not seen as radical. It became, instead, a revolutionary idea that slaves should be freed. When we have lived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerry-spence/once-slavery-in-america-was-not-seen-as-radical-it-became-instead-a/) [Gerry Spence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerry-spence/) > [More pernicious than the power of a dictator is that of a class; the most terrible - the tyranny of a majority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/more-pernicious-than-the-power-of-a-dictator-is-that-of-a-class-the/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [People who do not know the Bible well have been gulled into thinking it is a good guide to morality. This mistaken view may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/people-who-do-not-know-the-bible-well-have-been-gulled-into-thinking/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The efforts on the parts of Eastern magazine writers to educate the people of the United States, particularly parents, to the doctrine that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-f-richards/the-efforts-on-the-parts-of-eastern-magazine-writers-to-educate-the/) [George F. Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-f-richards/) ## More by Rolf Hochhuth > [The man who says what he thinks is finished, and the man who thinks what he says is an idiot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rolf-hochhuth/the-man-who-says-what-he-thinks-is-finished-and-the-man-who-thinks/) [Rolf Hochhuth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rolf-hochhuth/) > [Men may be linked in friendship. Nations are linked only by interests.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rolf-hochhuth/men-may-be-linked-in-friendship-nations-are-linked-only-by-interests/) [Rolf Hochhuth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rolf-hochhuth/) > [Truth is with the victors-who, as you know, also controls the historians.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rolf-hochhuth/truth-is-with-the-victors-who-as-you-know-also-controls-the-historians/) [Rolf Hochhuth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rolf-hochhuth/) > [“Tell my mother I stopped feeling frightened once I told myself they couldn't inflict half as much pain on me as she suffered when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rolf-hochhuth/tell-my-mother-i-stopped-feeling-frightened-once-i-told-myself-they/) [Rolf Hochhuth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rolf-hochhuth/) [Explore all 5 Rolf Hochhuth quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rolf-hochhuth/) ## More Humans quotes > [Entertainment is a sacred pursuit when done well. When done well, it raises the quality of human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/entertainment-is-a-sacred-pursuit-when-done-well-when-done-well-it/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [It is said that history turns on small hinges. A human career, too, results from an accumulating series of decisions about large and small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/it-is-said-that-history-turns-on-small-hinges-a-human-career-too/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [There is no human nature, since there is no god to conceive it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/there-is-no-human-nature-since-there-is-no-god-to-conceive-it/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/) [William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/) > [Houses are like the human beings that inhabit them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/houses-are-like-the-human-beings-that-inhabit-them/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Never underestimate the power of the human mind to believe what it wants to believe, no matter the conflicting evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-herbert/never-underestimate-the-power-of-the-human-mind-to-believe-what-it/) [Brian Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-herbert/) > [Humans are animals too, but some do not like to work from expectations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/humans-are-animals-too-but-some-do-not-like-to-work-from-expectations/) Mak\_786 > [Humans are, as Sartre put it, 'condemned to be free'. To insist that science, or God, objectively defines moral values is to abandon our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenan-malik/humans-are-as-sartre-put-it-condemned-to-be-free-to-insist-that/) Kenan Malik > [Human beings have an innate inner drive to be autonomous, self-determined, and connected to one another. And when that drive is liberated, people achieve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-h-pink/human-beings-have-an-innate-inner-drive-to-be-autonomous-self/) [Daniel H. Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-h-pink/) > [Half the misery of human life might be extinguished if men would alleviate the general curse they lie under by mutual offices of compassion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/half-the-misery-of-human-life-might-be-extinguished-if-men-would/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [When grubbing for necessities man is still an animal. He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/when-grubbing-for-necessities-man-is-still-an-animal-he-becomes/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [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/) > [A Light exists in Spring Not present on the Year At any other period - When March is scarcely here A Color stands abroad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/a-light-exists-in-spring-not-present-on-the-year-at-any-other-period/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) [Browse all 32,126 Humans quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Nationality was the most pernicious, depersonalizing, homogenizing label that could ever be attached to the human individual.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Rolf Hochhuth" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rolf-hochhuth/nationality-was-the-most-pernicious-depersonalizing-homogenizing/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Humans" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rolf-hochhuth/nationality-was-the-most-pernicious-depersonalizing-homogenizing/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7e/rolf-hochhuth-62682_humans_nationality-was-the-most-pernicious-depe_2952582.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7e/rolf-hochhuth-62682_humans_nationality-was-the-most-pernicious-depe_2952582.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7e/rolf-hochhuth-62682_humans_nationality-was-the-most-pernicious-depe_2952582.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Nationality was the most pernicious, depersonalizing, homogenizing label that could ever be attached to the…” — Rolf Hochhuth", "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": "Rolf Hochhuth", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rolf-hochhuth/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Nationality was the most pernicious, depersonalizing,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rolf-hochhuth/nationality-was-the-most-pernicious-depersonalizing-homogenizing/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rolf-hochhuth/nationality-was-the-most-pernicious-depersonalizing-homogenizing/#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 } } ] } ```