Individual vs. the collective

Explore 11 quotes about Individual vs. the collective

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.

Henry David Thoreau

Walden

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Topic

Being true to oneself Taking a different path Individual vs. the collective

Author

Henry David Thoreau

Source

Conclusion Walden

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Language

English

Time

1854 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Thoreau, Henry David. "Conclusion." Walden; or, Life in the Woods. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1854.

Current Citation

Thoreau, Henry David. "Conclusion." Walden and Civil Disobedience. Signet, 2012.

What is not good for the swarm is not good for the bee.

Marcus Aurelius

Meditations

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Topic

Individual vs. the collective

Author

Marcus Aurelius

Source

Meditations

Medium

Personal journal

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

180 180s 2nd century

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Aurelius, Marcus. Meditations. c. 180, bk. 6.

Current Citation

Aurelius, Marcus. Meditations, edited and translated by Martin Hammond. Penguin Classics, 2015, bk. 6.

Morality is the herd-instinct in the individual.

Friedrich Nietzsche

The Gay Science

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Topic

Moral theory Morality Individual vs. the collective

Author

Friedrich Nietzsche

Source

The Gay Science

Medium

Poem

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

German

Time

1882 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Nietzsche, Friedrich. Die frohliche Wissenschaft [The Gay Science]. Chemnitz: Ernst Schmeitzner, 1882, bk. 3, no. 116.

Current Citation

Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Joyous Science, translated by R. Kevin Hill. Penguin Classics, 2019, bk. 3, no. 116.

He loved the People just as much as he feared and detested Persons.

Sinclair Lewis

It Can't Happen Here

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Topic

Individual vs. the collective Misanthropy

Author

Sinclair Lewis

Source

It Can't Happen Here

Medium

Novel

Genre

Dystopian fiction

Language

English

Time

1935 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Lewis, Sinclair. It Can't Happen Here. Doubleday, Doran and Company, 1935, ch. 35.

Now, an army is a team. It lives, eats, sleeps, fights as a team. This individuality stuff is a bunch of crap.

Patton

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Topic

Individual vs. the collective Team Individualism The military World War II

Speaker

General George S. Patton

Actor

George C. Scott

Source

Patton

Medium

Film

Genre

Biography (film) War (film) Biography War

Language

English

Time

1969 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Patton. Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner. 20th Century Fox, 1969.

Man goes into the noisy crowd to drown his own clamour of silence.

Rabindranath Tagore

More information about this quote

Topic

Individual vs. the collective Isolation The crowd Man as social animal

Author

Rabindranath Tagore

Language

Bengali

Time

1916 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Tagore, Rabindrath. Stray Birds. The Macmillan Company, 1916, no. 110.

Today, you people are no longer maggots. Today, you are Marines. You're part of a brotherhood. From now on until the day you die, wherever you are, every Marine is your brother. Most of you will go to Vietnam. Some of you will not come back. But always remember this, marines die. That's what we're here for. But the Marine Corps lives forever and that means you live forever.

Gunnery Sargent Hartman

Full Metal Jacket

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Topic

Marines The military Individual vs. the collective

Speaker

Gunnery Sargent Hartman

Actor

Ronald Lee Ermey

Source

Full Metal Jacket

Medium

Film

Genre

War (film) War

Language

English

Time

1987 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Full Metal Jacket. Directed by Stanley Kubrick, Natant/Harrier Films, 1987.

The future belongs to crowds.

Don DeLillo

More information about this quote

Topic

The masses The crowd Individual vs. the collective

Author

Don DeLillo

Source

Mao II

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1991 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

DeLillo, Don. Mao II. Scribner, 1991.

I have ever hated all nations, professions, and communities, and all my love is towards individuals...I hate and detest that animal called man, although I heartily love John, Peter, Thomas, and so forth.

Jonathan Swift

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Topic

Individual vs. the collective

Author

Jonathan Swift

Medium

Letter

Language

English

Time

1725 1720s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Swift, Jonathan. Letter to Alexander Pope. 29 Sept. 1725.

Current Citation

Swift, Jonathan. "Swift to Alexander Pope, 29 September 1725." The Major Works, edited by Angus Ross and David Woolley. Oxford University Press, 2008.

What draws my admiration? What is that which gives me joy? Baseball! A man...a man stands alone at a plate. This is the time for what? For individual achievement. There he stands alone. But in the field, what? Part of a team. Looks, throws, catches, hustles. Part of one big team. Bats himself the live-long day, Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and so on. If his team don't field...what is he? You follow me? No one.

Al Capone

The Untouchables

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Topic

Baseball Individual vs. the collective The individual Team

Speaker

Al Capone

Actor

Robert De Niro

Source

The Untouchables

Medium

Film

Genre

Crime (film) Drama (film) Crime Drama

Language

English

Time

1987 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

The Untouchables. Directed by Brian De Palma, Paramount Pictures, 1987.

The Social Contract is nothing more or less than a vast conspiracy of human beings to lie to and humbug themselves and one another for the general Good. Lies are the mortar that bind the savage individual man into the social masonry.

H.G. Wells

More information about this quote

Topic

Social Contract Individual vs. the collective

Speaker

Mr. Chaffery

Author

H.G. Wells

Source

Love and Mr. Lewisham

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1899 1890s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Wells, H. G. Love and Mr. Lewisham. Harper & Brothers, 1900, ch. 23.

Current Citation

Wells, H. G. Love and Mr. Lewisham, edited by Simon James. Penguin Classics, 2005, ch. 23.