Quote Of The Day:
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Here’s a bright start for the day through our quote of the day:
“So far as men praise you, you can only be sure that you are not yet on your own true path but on someone else’s”
– Nietzsche
No matter what anyone says, A human being is not a socially independent entity. The people around us, what they perceive us to be and our image as perceived by them certainly matters a lot. Yesterday we posted 10 brilliant quotes on character Vs reputation and strongly sided towards character. To a certain extent, we can consider this as a continuation of that debate and to another a completely different one. Today we are going to talk about why people praise us, what it means and what we should take away from it.
Praise Definition:
On a simplistic note. praise means an appreciation or admiration or an approval towards something. Digging a little deeper,
When do people praise you?
– Well, the simple answer is that when they think what you do is commendable or what you do is right. And that is completely predicated on their experiences in life, their knowledge, exposure and sometimes peer group as well. In other words, people’s praise is a very subjective entity and it depends very much on the person praising you rather than the deed or what you feel about it.
In other words, what we are trying to say is that a fan following or people’s praise is quite easy to achieve. If you are a student – study hard, get good grades, never fall in love with a girl/guy, marry the person the society asks you to, and so on. After studies, get a HIGH PAYING job and settle down in a government sector or what your parents or friends think is right for you. And once you are married, have kids, get them to study in the best schools and so on. We all know what the society wants out of us and the society is very clever – it clearly lays out a path and plan for you to follow.
But society need not be right always. It need not predict where you are headed and it certainly need not be right.One of my favourite quotes says – “Society May Predict But Only I Will determine my destiny” and we wrote a brief analytical explanation for the same here
But what do you want?
Being brutally honest, no one really cares about what you really want in life as long as it falls within their broad definition of what you should be. Trust me – you are not here in this world to tick off someone’s check list. You are here in this world to make a difference – if not for anyone else, for yourselves. You need to look at life in a little more selfish manner. We have always advocated the importance of society as a follower but never as a leader.
If you want to define yourself, set your path straight, know what you want and go in that direction. Don’t fall prey into what the society wants from you. No one really cares when you give them exactly what they want cos the needs of the society are never ending.
The moment you set out to keep everyone around you happy, there is one person who suffers the most of all and continues to do so even without an ounce of sympathy from the people around him/her. That is in short you or me or anyone else who sacrifices their own desires just cos the society asks them to.
Life is larger than that and you are more precious than that. Don’t let the society or people rule and plan your lives. It is time to tell them to mind their own business and trust me – they all come around in the end. They are bound to. Don’t worry too much about the petty things in life. Cos if you sacrifice the big picture then all you have are petty goals to live for. And don’t bother explaining your actions to the society, you really need not do that. The more you explain your actions, the more weak the society considers you. Few days ago, we had an open debate about proving and explaining our actions to the society and its futility. You can see the debate and its outcome here.
12 Amazing Quotes on Society:
1) Please don’t allow the society to turn you into a person you are not.
2) Welcome to our society, you will be judged on what you wear, your taste in music, what you look like and how you act. Enjoy your stay
3) Society taught me that no matter what size I am , I will never be good enough. I’ll always be too short, too thin or too fat or too skinny, too this and too that!
4) The great hope of society is in individual character
5) Society knows perfectly well how to kill a man and has methods more subtle than death
6) Society is like the air, necessity to breathe but insufficient to live on
7) Society worships those who are beautiful and puts down those who aren’t. If you don’t see a problem with this, you’re a part of the problem
8) You are born and then you die, but in between you can do anything you want. It’s the society which creates rules for us, you can break out of it if you want.
9) The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you are still a rat!
10) You define beauty for yourself, society doesn’t define your beauty
– Lady Gaga
11) Society is weird, they ask you to be yourself and yet judge you for it
12) Changing the society will not help anyone, changing myself will help the society
Well that’s our list of the top 12 quotes on society and individual. Stay tuned in for more.
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“Therefore, a person should first be changed by a teacher’s instructions, and guided by principles of ritual. Only then can he observe the rules of courtesy and humility, obey the conventions and rules of society, and achieve order.” Xun Zi Best society quotes I love…
I loved the quotes, i have had my own grudge over the so called society and some of these so fit that bill :)
He he .. Thank you Shweta :D .. I guess deep down, we have all been the rebels at a certain level and have hated how the society has treated us or mistreated us. I have always had the grudge since I can recall till I heard someone say – “Being a part of the society without being a part of it” which somehow struck a chord. :)
These quotes are really amazing, I loved the second one :)
Thank you Aunt Mary :). I kinda liked all of them, quite powerful and action packed. Well, all said and done, the society is never gonna change. All we can do is find a better way to deal with it.
We being social creatures, Society is essential to us, yet we need not be dictated by all its terms. Greart collection of quotes Vinay.
Thank you Somali. I agree, we never will be independent creatures and rightly so or else life will be extremely boring. At the same time letting the society dictate our lives is just letting too much of control in its hands which it really doesn’t deserve. Sometimes we just have to show it the right place..
Hahaha…. I couldn’t contend myself laughing at Nietzsche’s quote. I always like him. Other quotes are good along with the centre message.
He he he :D .. Thank you Ravish. That’s really a brilliant quote isn’t it, so practical and so real!
Every word, every sentence describes our overdependence on THE society. Many of us want to be leaders of tomorrow, but we cannot be, not until we keep doing things which we do to get society’s praise. A saying comes to my mind which goes as follows, “It’s very easy to make people around you happy- compromise on your dreams for theirs”.
Each of the quotes is a lesson to outgrow ourselves and standout as an individual amidst all the clamour and chaos that society puts around us. We live as a part of the society, but at the same time we must strive to be a part of the solution (otherwise, we’re a part of the precipitate :)). On a serious note, keep up the good work Vinay, and thanks.
Thank you Shailendra. I believe as a culture we all are dependent on the society and the society is dependent on us. All through the post. we have tried to focus on how strong an influence it has in shaping us up and making who we are today. And at some point, how important it is to step out of the boundaries of the society, not cos the society is wretched, but at times it just brings us down and it makes life a little more challenging than it already is. I think it is a great enabler, but the moment it is being a hindrance, we all should find a way to send it back to the background and lead our lives the way we want.
Great collection of quotes, Vinay. I always enjoy these posts of yours, on quotes. Not only you let us know some profound ones, but also put forth your own valuable views.
Thank you Maniparna. I am really happy to see this comment. I was trying to reinvent our quote of the day section and then thought I should probably add more relevant quotes. It has been received really well. Hopefully we’ll come up with more different ways to keep it more entertaining as well as a bit effective I guess :)