If a man is not faithful to his own individuality, he cannot be loyal to anything.

Loyalty is only worth something when a real self is doing the promising. If you have quietly given up your own character, tastes and convictions to please others, then your devotion to a friend, a cause or an employer is really habit or fear dressed up as faithfulness. Someone with no center can't make a pledge that means much, because no steady person stands behind it.

The idea suits McKay, the Jamaican-born poet and novelist of the Harlem Renaissance, who was known for guarding his independence. He moved through political and literary circles, radical ones included, without handing his voice over to any of them. The thought also belongs to the wider tradition that prizes authenticity. I can't point to a precise source for this wording, so the attribution deserves some caution.

In practice, it might mean a person who stops nodding along in meetings to avoid friction and says, kindly, "I see this differently." Colleagues then know that their agreement, when it comes, is genuine. Being honest with yourself is what makes your yes trustworthy.