[Ads-l] Quote Origin: The Individual Has Always Had to Struggle to Keep from Being Overwhelmed by the Tribe

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

The statement in the subject line has been attributed to Friedrich
Nietzsche and Rudyard Kipling. I was asked to investigate.

There is no substantive support for the attribution to Nietzsche who
died in 1900. Nietzsche implausibly received credit in 1996.

Rudyard Kipling died in 1936. In July 1959 "Reader's Digest" magazine
published an article by journalist Arthur Gordon titled "Interview
With an Immortal". Gordon stated that he interviewed Kipling at his
home in June 1935. Gordon presented a quotation from Kipling about
maintaining one's identity:

[Begin excerpt]
Looking back, I think he knew that in my innocence I was eager to love
everything and please everybody, and he was trying to warn me not to
lose my own identity in the process. Time after time he came back to
this theme.

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being
overwhelmed by the tribe. To be your own man is a hard business. If
you try it, you'll be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no
price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself."
[End excerpt]

The accuracy of this quotation is dependent on Arthur Gordon's
veracity. Gordon became a respected editor who worked at "Good
Housekeeping" and "Cosmopolitan" magazines. Gordon also authored
fourteen books, and contributed pieces to "Reader's Digest",
"Esquire", "Collier's", "Saturday Evening Post", and other
periodicals.

Here is a link to the QI article:
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2026/03/02/struggle-keep/

Feedback welcome
Garson O'Toole

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org