Individuality is a delicate plant. Tend it.

What it means

Most of what we think and do is borrowed from the group. What is truly individual is small and easily crushed. It needs deliberate care to grow.

The source

"Individuality is a delicate plant. Tend it." Carl Jung said it in Collected Papers (1917), ch. XV 'The Conception of the Unconscious'. Translated by Constance E. Long, 1917.

"The crushing predominance of what is collective should make us realise what peculiar care and attention must be given to the delicate plant "individuality," if it is to develop."

Constance E. Long, 1917, Collected Papers (1917), ch. XV 'The Conception of the Unconscious'. Text read at gutenberg.org.

Who said it

Carl Jung (1875–1961). Swiss psychiatrist who broke with Freud and founded analytical psychology. He mapped the persona, the shadow, the collective unconscious and the lifelong work of becoming yourself, which he called individuation. Our lines come only from his writings published before 1931, in our own translations from the German or in English translations of the time.

Questions

What does "Individuality is a delicate plant. Tend it." mean?

Most of what we think and do is borrowed from the group. What is truly individual is small and easily crushed. It needs deliberate care to grow.

Who said "Individuality is a delicate plant. Tend it."?

Carl Jung (1875–1961). Source: Collected Papers (1917), ch. XV 'The Conception of the Unconscious'.

What is the original wording?

The crushing predominance of what is collective should make us realise what peculiar care and attention must be given to the delicate plant "individuality," if it is to develop (Constance E. Long, 1917). Translated by Constance E. Long, 1917.

Is "Individuality is a delicate plant. Tend it." on a shirt?

Yes. We print it to order on our tees in 7 illustrated looks, from $44, with free US shipping.

"Individuality is a delicate plant. Tend it." (Carl Jung, Collected Papers (1917), ch. XV 'The Conception of the Unconscious', trans. Constance E. Long, 1917). https://spartansurfers.com/quotes/individuality-is-a-delicate-plant-tend-it