Partners
Alone is faster. A partner owns part of the outcome, the win and the loss, which is why together goes far with the right ones.
Short answer
Alone is faster, as Kipling wrote in 1888, and the saying that answers him adds that together goes far. Help doesn't make someone a partner, since help can be hired and, in Kipling's words, disowned. Agreement is applause, and someone just like you is a copy. Partner comes from parcener, a joint heir, someone who owns part of the outcome, the win and the loss. That share is why a partner stays when it gets hard. The wrong partner is slower than going alone and ends the road sooner, so together only goes far with the right ones.
Key takeaways
- —Kipling wrote that he travels the fastest who travels alone, and the saying that answers him adds that together goes far
- —Help can be hired and, in Kipling's words, disowned, so help alone doesn't make someone a partner
- —Partner comes from parcener, a joint heir, someone who owns a share of the outcome, the win and the loss
- —The wrong partner is slower than going alone and ends the road sooner, so together only goes far with the right ones
He travels the fastest who travels alone.
Rudyard Kipling wrote that in 1888, and he's right. Alone, there's nobody to wait for and nobody to split anything with.
Much later, the line got an answer.
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
It usually gets called an African proverb. Nobody has traced it for certain. Whoever said it caught what Kipling skipped.
Fast to where?
Going far takes other people. So what makes one of them a partner?
Most people would say help. Someone who pulls their weight.
Kipling knew all about help. His poem ends by telling you what to do with it: Win by his aid, and the aid disown.
Use the help, then forget who gave it.
You can hire help. Help clocks out at 5.
Someone who agrees with you, then?
That's applause. It feels like support right up until you need someone to tell you you're wrong.
Someone just like you?
That's a copy. 2 of you means the same blind spots twice.
Partner started out as parcener, an old word for a joint heir. Someone holding a share.
A partner owns part of the outcome.
The win, and the loss.
That's why together goes far. When it gets hard, help can walk away. A partner would be walking away from their own share.
You can disown help. You can't disown someone who owns part of it.
But the saying skips a step too...
The wrong partner is slower than going alone, and the road ends sooner. They own a share of it, so they can sink it.
Together only goes far with the right ones.
I'm blessed with great partners.
I couldn't have come this far.
Or be on the path that I am, alone.