We have done with Hope and Honour. we are lost to Love and Truth, We are dropping down the ladder rung by rung; And the measure of our torment is the measure of our youth. God help us, for we knew the worst too young!
Rudyard KiplingRead
The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the struggle of maintaining individuality against societal pressures, emphasizing the value of self-ownership.
Rudyard Kipling's quote speaks to the inner conflict faced by individuals who strive to assert their uniqueness amidst the collective influence of society. It acknowledges the loneliness and fear that can accompany this journey but ultimately champions the worth of self-ownership, suggesting that the struggles faced in remaining true to oneself are outweighed by the intrinsic value of personal autonomy and identity.
Themes
IndividualitySocietySelf-OwnershipStruggleLoneliness
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational talk about self-identity and personal growth, this quote can inspire individuals to embrace their uniqueness.
More from Rudyard Kipling
All quotes →Humble because of knowledge; mighty by sacrifice.
Rudyard KiplingRead
Hear and attend and listen; for this is what befell and be-happened and became and was, O my Best Beloved, when the Tame animals were wild. The dog was wild, and the Horse was wild, and the Cow was wild, and the Sheep was wild, and the Pig was wild -as wild as wild could be - and they walked in the Wet Wild Woods by their wild lones. But the wildest of all the wild animals was the Cat. He walked by himself and all places were alike to him
Rudyard KiplingRead
I keep six honest serving men.
Rudyard KiplingRead
And when your back stops aching and your hands begin to harden, You will find yourself a partner in the Glory of the Garden.
Rudyard KiplingRead
Savings represent much more than mere money value. They are the proof that the saver is worth something in himself. Any fool can waste; any fool can muddle; but it takes something more of a man to save and the more he saves the more of a man he makes of himself. Waste and extravagance unsettle a man's mind for every crisis; thrift, which means some form of self-restraint, steadies it.
Rudyard KiplingRead
Similar quotes
All too often when liberals cite statistics, they forget the statisticians' warning that correlation is not causation.
Thomas SowellRead
Never take your obedience as the reason God blesses you; obedience is the outcome of being rightly related to God.
Oswald ChambersRead
Years ago, I noticed one thing about economics, and that is that economists didn't get anything right.
Nassim Nicholas TalebRead
was it a vision or a waking dream? Fled is that music--do I wake or sleep?
John KeatsRead
Science is unflinchingly deterministic, and it has begun to force its determinism into morals. On some shining tomorrow a psychoanalyst may be put into the box to prove that perjury is simply a compulsion neurosis, like beating time with the foot at a concert or counting the lampposts along the highway.
H. L. MenckenRead
It is a clear truth that those who every day barter away other men's liberty will soon care little for their own.
James OtisRead