A Quote to Quote
There was this quote I hit upon recently. It stood out among all other phrases and words that were in the passage I read. I was totally attracted by it that I made it my signature quote rightaway...
But I still wonder what made the line impress in my memory the first time I read it. It's a quote by Thoreau:
A man more right than his neighbors, constitutes a majority of one
Was it the rebellious instinct that it gives the reader for not caring about what your neighbors say and to hold on to your beliefs...
Was it the importance and care given to the individuality of you as a person and your thoughts...
Was it just another way of saying "Truth is a perception and everyone has his own perception... Everyone is right by his perception and so are you!"
or is it all of this and something more?
What was it that really really made me to take it along? Am trying to find my answer here...
How do I know if a man is more right than his neighbors or not?
Can I say, 'When a man is true, he is right'? Now, what is being true or Truth?
A truth, is a state of being in harmony with yourself. This description of truth, I got, from Mahatma's life.
What you believe, you think.
What you think, you speak.
What you speak, you do.
What you do, you habitualize.
What you habitualize you imbibe in yourself... all in one sync!
By that idea, a man can be true to himself when he lives by his beliefs. But there is one catch here... his beliefs can change as his knowledge on something increases. So, I would rather say, a man is true or right when he has complete inner harmony at any given time. When he finds a contradiction between what he believes and hence his thoughts and what he does ultimately... then he is no more true.
A man more right than his neighbors... can be translated to: "a man not convinced by his neighbors ideas and holding his own ideas or principles on something"
Having resolved the first part, lets shift our focus to the other part - Constituting a majority of one:
I somehow like this part more... I feel this phrase gives strength and confidence to a person who reads it!
Can you imagine - when a man is singled out for his opinion or principles, and every other person opposing this man's thoughts and still he has this to say... "I'm not giving up on my beliefs for the mere numbers supporting it. I belong to a majority- a majority of one!... I know I'm right for the simple reason being I'm true to myself."
I feel, the depth and strength in this man's belief being shown with such an attitude!
Summing it all up... the quote means this:
A man has to live by his own principles, live by what he feels is right and not what the others, may be the society as a whole, dictate him to do. He need not bother about being singled out because, he still belongs to a majority- a majority of one!
Such an attitude is the one that shapes the society itself and identifies the leader... Truely, A man more right than his neighbors constitues a majority of one!!
posted by DD @ 1:40 AM
6 comments
6 Comments:
I seriously don't understand why OSSI'ans have strange statements at the end fo their signature.
~ Any man more right than his neighbors, constitutes a majority of one ~
Firstly, there is nothing right or wrong in this world..It is all a person's perception....... Hence everyone is right in their own way.. Their is clashes only when you try to impose your "right" on other's right... In that case, everyone is a majority of one.. Then there is no need for the above statement..
I thought pretty hard, and found out the reason why you had made that statement..It is because you couldn't attach the following,
~ Any woman more right than her neighbors, constitutes a minority of one ~
"a man not convinced by his neighbors ideas and holding his own ideas or principles on something"- DD I think this is a flawed way of inferring...coz, U say that a man's belief changes, when his knowledge increases...how can a man's knowledge increase, if he keeps himself not convinced of his neighbours...I mean, he had to be convinced of some part of it, that would seem right to him...holding his own ideas dear is good..till it is not overdown to the point of stubborness or without proof...objective proof...with objective proof, even if his believes are in contradiction to that of his neighbours, then he can still hold his views...he need to take the view, that can be supported by Objective truth...but then there is always an issue of who will define objectivity?...so...its an unending saga of questions and in the end it doesnt even matter.
Krish! Welcome to my blog :-)
A thoughtful comment indeed. Well, let me see if I have something to say here...
"how can a man's knowledge increase, if he keeps himself not convinced of his neighbours"
Krish, what I understand from the quote is that it talks about not suppressing one's own thoughts and ideas for the sole reason being no body else is ready to acknowledge it.
A person open to other's ideas means he has to listen to them, think and see if it convinces him.
If it doesnot and if he believes in something else, then there is no point following other's idea. That would mean he is not true (true to himself).
If it really convinces him, he would go by the other's idea from then on. He has learnt something more that made him change his idea or rather refine or redefine them. Even if he contradicts his own previous self, thats okie cos he is still being true to himself at that given moment. Thats how everyone grows!
There is another thing to it, if we keep accepting other's ideas blindly (not thinking over it or fully convinced by it), we would endup nowhere.
If we turn back in time, almost all of the great people or revolutionists were singled out for their ideas. Had they not been strong enough on their ideas and been true to themselves, our society would not have changed! These days we even laugh at the old practices and superstitions... But thats how we grow and the society as a whole shapes up! And this quote was touching the fundamentals of all these... and thats why I like it!
True!..Very True Indeed!
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