Quote by Henry David Thoreau

As to conforming outwardly, and living your own life inwardly, I have not a very high opinion of that course.

As to conforming outwardly, and living your own life inwardl

Summary

The quote suggests that the act of conforming to societal expectations externally, while preserving one's own individuality and values internally, is not highly regarded. It implies that merely putting up a facade to meet societal standards is not a worthwhile or authentic way to live. Instead, it suggests the importance of aligning one's inner beliefs and actions with their outward expressions, valuing genuineness and integrity over conformity.

Topics

Conformity & Nonconformity

By Henry David Thoreau

Liked the quote? Share it with your friends.

Random Quotations

If you can control a man's thinking, you do not have to worr

If you can control a man's thinking, you do not have to worry about his actions. When you determine what a man shall think you do not have to concern yourself about what he will do. If you make a man feel that he is inferior, you do not have to compel him to accept an inferior status, for he will seek it himself . If you make a man think that he is justly an outcast, you do not have to order him to the back door. He will go without being told; and if there is no back door, his very nature will demand one.

George G. Woodson

Success covers a multitude of blunders.

Success covers a multitude of blunders.

George Bernard Shaw

Success & Failure

Life does not require us to make good; it asks only that we

Life does not require us to make good; it asks only that we give our best at each level of experience.

With children... it is a fact that most parents criticize ch

With children... it is a fact that most parents criticize children more than they laud or congratulate them. We tend to be quick to criticize, slow to praise. We should be careful to keep the praise and the expectations far ahead of the criticism.

Whatever else it was, Adolf Hitler's short-lived regime was

Whatever else it was, Adolf Hitler's short-lived regime was also a colossal industrial process by which the wealth and productive power of much of Europe was wrenched from its normal purposes and converted into a machine for killing.

Money, like vodka, turns a person into an eccentric.

Money, like vodka, turns a person into an eccentric.

I realize I will always be the poster child for police bruta

I realize I will always be the poster child for police brutality, but I can try to use that as a positive force for healing and restraint.

The university's business is the conservation of useless kno

The university's business is the conservation of useless knowledge and what the university itself apparently fails to see is that this enterprise is not only noble but indispensable as well, that society can not exist unless it goes on.

I believe that one defines oneself by reinvention. To not be

I believe that one defines oneself by reinvention. To not be like your parents. To not be like your friends. To be yourself. To cut yourself out of stone.

The person who deserves most pity is a lonesome one on a rai

The person who deserves most pity is a lonesome one on a rainy day who doesn't know how to read.

Benjamin Franklin

Books Reading Pity Illiteracy

Each day, in itself, brings with it an eternity.

Each day, in itself, brings with it an eternity.

Yes, 85 percent of the art you see isn't any good. But every

Yes, 85 percent of the art you see isn't any good. But everyone has a different opinion about which 85 percent is bad. That in turn creates fantastically unstable interplay and argument.