Quote of the Day---"Individuality"

"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best day and night to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting."
--Edward Estlin Cummings--

"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."
--Friedrich Nietzsche--

We are encouraged everyday to be ourselves, but how much of the world really allows you to be yourself. There is a mold or a shape everyone has to play to and if they don't they will pay a price. So, if something is truly a part of a person we are must hide it or cover it up sometimes just to be accepted or to maintain function in society. It just makes me wonder, how much are we really supposed to discover for ourselves and if we discover something unique or that isn't the norm are we supposed to hide that? Being yourself and an individual is one of the greatest most rewarding things in the world, and being successful while maintaining your individuality in this close-minded, stereotypical, form fitting world is something to be commended and something I strive for everyday.