Favorite Inspirational Quotes

There is only one way in the world to be distinguished.  Follow your instinct!  Be yourself, and you’ll be somebody.  Be one more blind follower of the blind, and you will have the oblivion you desire.

Bliss Carman

One way to learn something is to find someone who does it well and then do as they do.  At some point, however, you want to make changes to what you have learned in order to make it uniquely yours, hopefully in a way that is successful for you and meets the requirements of your situation.

Right now, I can only think of the recipe example.  When you first learn to cook a dish, you follow the directions of the recipe.  You eat and taste the result.  But at some point, you want to make that recipe yours and suitable for your family.

If you have young kids, you may cut down on the spiciness.  If not, you may really want it to sting if you like hot stuff.  Any real cook invariably modifies a recipe so it becomes hers.  You don’t just keep following the same thing over and over again (unless it’s really good).

I guess this quote is saying the same thing.  Be who you are, an individual with individual talents, likes and dislikes, and ways of doing things.  Be yourself and don’t be one of the mindless masses who dresses like what they see on TV or like everyone else in their age group in town, who speaks the same way, and does the same things as the masses.

What’s interesting is this quote comes from a time before TV and even before radio.  Even then, it seeems, it was a struggle to be yourself rather than melting into the masses.  Let your true self come out.

Tags: Bliss Carman