The Unique and Its Property, by Max Stirner

The Unique and Its Property

Brilliant work. Manifesto in favor of intelligence and dignity. Antidote against the tyranny of abstractions. What a pleasure! And there were those who wanted to paint Stirner pejoratively as “radical”. Well done! Radical against the submission of the individual to ideas, revolt against the repression of thought. And, moreover, very good-humored, which is not verified in all those who were indignant against the blasphemies of this great intellectual. The human being suffers from this terrible need to first associate, become part of a group, formulate and validate beliefs through consensus, and then impose them on the rest of the species, claiming universal validation. It is natural that the individual has always existed, in common sense, as submissive to any authority. The opposite is simply unthinkable! One must be a sheep and demand that all others be so too; so I think, so I do, and that is exactly how everyone must think and do! But there is what the flock animals will never understand: dignity begins with the consciousness of individuality and maturity with the acceptance of the world as it is. The species has already failed, but the laughter of Stirner will continue to echo through the centuries…

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