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“Be the Change.” On the Misattributed Origins of a Popular Slogan

Literary Hub·Benoit Denizet-Lewis April 29, 2026·about 1 month ago
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“Somebody around here needs to change. And your name is Somebody.” –Elizabeth Gilbert, All the Way to the River * Article continues after advertisement The most beloved resident at Westminster Village, a resort-style retirement community in Scottsdale, is probably a sulcata tortoise named Bruno who moseys through the center’s secret garden and naps in the shade of his officially designated quarters: Bruno’s Boudoir. Cute as he is, I hadn’t come to admire a hard-shelled reptile. I was there to meet a fast-moving octogenarian, Arleen Lorrance, known to bound through the complex offering bear hugs and posing the question “What’s the most meaningful thing in your life?” Contemporary researchers credit her, not Mahatma Gandhi, with originating the epoch-defining phrase “Be the change you want to see happen,” which she coined in the early 1970s shortly after a powerful spiritual experience while admiring a flower near Esalen, the iconic Big Sur retreat center.…

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