I think a lot of people have lost respect for the individual, you

The words of Erykah Badu — "I think a lot of people have lost respect for the individual, you know, the individual, the person who doesn't conform." — speak to a wound at the heart of our age, a wound that echoes across all centuries. For the individual is the spark of creation, the flame that lights new paths, the voice that dares to sing apart from the chorus. Yet the world, in its hunger for order and sameness, too often smothers that flame, demanding conformity over truth, silence over song. To lose respect for the one who stands alone is to lose respect for the very roots of human freedom and progress.

In the ancient tongue, we might say that the individual is the seed from which forests are born. When such seeds are despised or ignored, the earth becomes barren, and no new growth can take root. Badu’s lament is not merely about artists or thinkers, but about the very spirit of humanity — that restless force within us which longs to be unique, unbound, authentic. Without it, we are but shadows of one another, mirrors that reflect but never shine with their own light.

Consider the tale of Socrates, who walked the streets of Athens asking questions that unsettled the powerful and broke the comfortable illusions of the people. He did not conform to the rules of easy thought or blind obedience. He was mocked, accused, and finally condemned to death. Yet his courage to remain an individual has inspired countless generations. His life was a testimony that truth belongs not to the crowd, but to the one who dares to seek it, even against the world’s hatred.

Or recall the journey of Harriet Tubman, who defied the chains of her age. The voices of conformity told her to submit, to accept the fate imposed upon her. But she heard another voice — the voice of freedom — and she obeyed it. By refusing to conform, she not only liberated herself but returned again and again to free others. Respect for the individual who refuses to bend gave birth to movements of liberation and dignity. Without such defiance, humanity remains enslaved to the tyrannies of its time.

Thus, the teaching is clear: to honor the individual is to honor courage, vision, and authenticity. The world will often mock or punish those who resist the tide, but history bows to them in the end. Those who conform may find safety for a season, but only those who stand apart leave legacies that endure. To scorn the nonconformist is to scorn the possibility of change, the hope of better worlds.

Let this lesson be carved into your heart: respect the one who does not conform. Do not dismiss them as strange or dangerous too quickly, for they may be the very wellspring of wisdom your generation needs. If you yourself feel the call to be different, do not betray it. Hold fast, though the crowd jeers and the path seems lonely. For the loneliness of authenticity is nobler than the comfort of false belonging.

What then should one do? Listen for voices that dare to speak a different truth. Protect the space where individuality can flourish — in your community, your friendships, your family. And within yourself, nurture the courage to live by your convictions rather than by the world’s applause. In this way, you will not be one of those who have lost respect for the individual, but one who guards the fire of human freedom for generations yet unborn.

For when the scrolls of time are opened, the names written in light are never those who conformed — but those who lived as themselves, wholly, courageously, defiantly. And if you honor them, you too will become worthy of honor.