"What I must do, is all that concerns me, not what the people think."
This quote is so simple, and straightforward. Emerson didn't use any elaborate words, or try and make it a mind twister that we have to analyze and come up with crazy parallels for it to make sense. And that is why I like this quote. And that is why I choose it. Out of all the knowledgeable and thought-provoking quotes he provided us with, this one is my favorite.
It seems so simple. To do what concerns you and not to worry what people think...but it is much easier said than done and I am almost 100 percent sure that anyone reading this can attest. We all strive to be that person that doesn't care what any one else is thinking, and who isn't worried about what they look like, or what they are doing, or what kind of impression they are leaving. But the truth is, I think for almost everyone out there, no matter how hard we try not to concern ourselves with what other people think, we're still worried about it.
I think Ralph Waldo Emerson was one of the very few people, who wasn't concerned and caught up in what other people were thinking of him. He left behind hundreds of pages of his own thoughts, for other people to read and criticize, and honestly, I don't think he could care less of what other people thought about his writings. One of his quotes that perfectly exemplifies this is, "Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind." Emerson had a passion. His passion was to write what he thought, and to end up getting some people that loved him, and also getting some that hated him and thought he was wrong. But he was happy with his work, and to him that was the only thing that mattered.
The concept of doing what I want, and not what other people want is thought-provoking to me. How many times in my life have i been truly proud of something i accomplished? Certainly more than I can count on one hand, but when I think back about those times, all those times when I was truly happy about what i had accomplished, they were times when i did something just for the sake of doing it, and doing it for me, and no body else.
So ultimately, I think thats what Emerson is trying to say. That we should only do what concerns us, not what concerns other people, and we should do it for our own happiness, not necessarily to please other people.
