The Winners

What the moral? Who rides may read. 
When the night is thick and the tracks are blind 
A friend at a pinch is a friend, indeed, 
But a fool to wait for the laggard behind. 
Down to Gehenna or up to the Throne, 
He travels the fastest who travels alone. 

White hands cling to the tightened rein, 
Slipping the spur from the booted heel, 
Tenderest voices cry "Turn again!" 
Red lips tarnish the scabbarded steel, 
High hopes faint on a warm hearth-stone-- 
He travels the fastest who travels alone. 

One may fall but he falls by himself-- 
Falls by himself with himself to blame. 
One may attain and to him is pelf-- 
Loot of the city in Gold or Fame. 
Plunder of earth shall be all his own 
Who travels the fastest and travels alone. 

Wherefore the more ye be helpen-.en and stayed, 
Stayed by a friend in the hour of toil, 
Sing the heretical song I have made-- 
His be the labour and yours be the spoil. 
Win by his aid and the aid disown-- 
He travels the fastest who travels alone!

Rudyard Kipling, 1888.

Those of you who have seen the film 1917 heard two lines of this poem quoted in the film, those being;

Down to Gehenna or up to the Throne, 
He travels the fastest who travels alone. 

Kipling's observation is an interesting one, but is it correct?  Kipling himself must have known that the greater meanings claimed for the poem were not without contest as he stated "Sing the heretical song I have made-- ".  Still, in at least one sense, the physical one, a competent person traveling by himself can make the best time, assuming that competency.  However, Desert monks aside, the trip to the Throne may be best aided with fellow travelers, and the trip to Gehenna frequently features company.