To be nobody but myself -- in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else -- means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting. -E.E. Cummings, poet (1894-1962)
This deserves some pondering. I would agree that the world around us is indeed doing its best to form us into a shape that suits its purposes, and that we should resist, and that resistance requires diligent effort. But I wonder about the implications of the stated ideal, "to be nobody but myself"? In a superficial sense, of course, I can't really be anyone but myself, but Cummings is aiming at something deeper. Do I really want to be merely myself? Isn't there anything higher to strive for?
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