If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.
In plain words
It is fine to move at your own pace and follow the beat only you can hear.
Where these words come from
- 95% sureThese words were traced back to where they first appeared. That source is listed below.
- Walden (1854), 'Conclusion' chapter — grepped verbatim in the staged Gutenberg text (id 205).
- Walden
- 1854 · The 'Conclusion' chapter, on living according to one's own nature rather than the crowd's pace.
More from Henry David Thoreau
See allIn wildness is the preservation of the world.
Henry David ThoreauIf you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.Henry David ThoreauSimplicity, simplicity, simplicity!Henry David ThoreauIt is never too late to give up our prejudices.Henry David Thoreau
Henry David ThoreauIf you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.Henry David ThoreauSimplicity, simplicity, simplicity!Henry David ThoreauIt is never too late to give up our prejudices.Henry David ThoreauMore on individuality
To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.
Oscar WildeNot all who wander are lost.
J.R.R. Tolkien'Know thyself' was written over the portal of the antique world. Over the portal of the new world, 'Be thyself' shall be written.Oscar WildeWe will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak our own minds.
Ralph Waldo EmersonThe imitator dooms himself to hopeless mediocrity.Ralph Waldo EmersonAlways be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.
Judy Garland
Oscar WildeNot all who wander are lost.J.R.R. Tolkien'Know thyself' was written over the portal of the antique world. Over the portal of the new world, 'Be thyself' shall be written.Oscar WildeWe will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak our own minds.Ralph Waldo EmersonThe imitator dooms himself to hopeless mediocrity.Ralph Waldo EmersonAlways be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.Judy Garland