Our business in life is not to succeed, but to continue to fail in good spirits.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen to what the world tells you ought to prefer, is to have kept your soul alive.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Valuing personal preferences over societal norms is essential for preserving one's true self.
This quote emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and personal choice, suggesting that to truly understand and embrace one's preferences and desires, rather than passively acquiescing to societal expectations, is vital for maintaining one's individuality and spirit. It underscores the idea that true fulfillment comes from being in touch with one's own values and beliefs.
Themes
Self-AwarenessIndividualityPreferencesIdentitySoul
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about personal growth.
More from Robert Louis Stevenson
All quotes →Like a bird singing in the rain, let grateful memories survive in time of sorrow.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
That man is a success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
His past was fairly blameless; few men could read the rolls of their life with less apprehension; yet he was humbled to the dust by the many ill things he had done, and raised up again into sober and fearful gratitude by the many he had come so near to doing, yet avoided.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
The habit of being happy enables one to be freed, or largely freed, from the domination of outward conditions.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
It is the history of our kindnesses that alone make this world tolerable. If it were not for that, for the effect of kind words, kind looks, kind letters . . . I should be inclined to think our life a practical jest in the worst possible spirit.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
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