Emerson Nonconformity Quotes

For nonconformity the world will whip you with its displeasure.

For nonconformity the world whips you with its displeasure.

For nonconformity the world whips you with its displeasure. And therefore a man must know how to estimate a sour face. The by-standers look askance on him in the public street or in the friend’s parlour. If this aversation had its origin in contempt and resistance like his own, he might well go home with a sad countenance; but the sour faces of the multitude, like their sweet faces, have no deep cause, but are put on and off as the wind blows and a newspaper directs.

Self-reliance is the highest expression of self-respect.

Always do what you are afraid to do. —RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Whence is your power? From my nonconformity. I never listened to your people’s law, or to what they call their gospel, and wasted my time.