"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.”
2007-12-09 17:11:50 · 23 answers · asked by pb 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Quotations
It means dare to be different! You don't ever have to follow the crowd or be a part of the "norm." Some of the most brilliant, influential people in history have been extremely unique, scatterbrained, talented, quirky, or odd people.
Just be yourself, regardless of what others try to shape you to be.
2007-12-09 17:15:57 · answer #1 · answered by Paul T 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It means "Don't be so quick to judge others."
Famously used in shortened form as the opening quote of the book "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", (later made into an Oscar winning movie), which took place in an insane asylum.
The point of that story was that that not only were the patients often more reasonable, and certainly more complex than they were given credit for -- the nurses and staff who controlled them were often far crazier than the patients were.
2007-12-10 01:20:42 · answer #2 · answered by titou 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I realize the main message of the quote is anti-conformity, but you might want to consider the consequences of it. The Chicago 7(8?) were organizers of the famous protest of the 1968 Democratic Convention, and while they were found not guilty of crossing state lines to incite revolt, they got 5 years for contempt of court. (It was later overruled by the Supreme Court)
For another example of the conformity/anti-conformity debate, rent Dead Poet's Society.
2007-12-10 01:19:53 · answer #3 · answered by Eagle Scout (And Proud Of It) 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
IT means that we can not all move or travel and or do the same things at the same speed. We all work at our own pace and as such we should.
You may be tall and have long legs and I may be short and have short legs, yet as we both walk at our regular pace you leap ahead as I fall behind. You shouldn't slow for me as I shouldn't hurry for you, we are all going to the same place and we wil get there when we get there.
2007-12-10 01:17:32 · answer #4 · answered by Randy W 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Henry David Thoreau! An anti-conformist statement: if someone doesn't fit in and go along with the values of his society, maybe it's because he has different values or priorites, and it's OK for him to live according to his own standards.
2007-12-10 01:17:03 · answer #5 · answered by aida 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Dance to your own beat! Some excel in Music, others in Math! Everyone has a future!
2007-12-10 01:19:37 · answer #6 · answered by DORY 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
basically "beat your own drum"
the man should do his own thing rather than following his 'companions' because everyone is different and moves at different paces, etc.
2007-12-10 01:21:32 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It means don't be afraid to be your own person...that it's OK to be different from others in how you think or act. It means to be happy with who you are rather than trying to be the person someone else - or society -wants you to be.
2007-12-10 01:15:49 · answer #8 · answered by fiddleplayer26 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If someone doesn't act the same as his or her peers, they probably have a different belief system. Let them act according to this system no matter how strange it may seem to you.
Or simply, to each his own.
2007-12-10 01:15:06 · answer #9 · answered by miss_ashleigh4u 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
My take on it is you should follow your heart and not someone else's. Your destiny lies on a different path than that of another, and if it takes you a little longer to reach your goals then so be it, but those are YOUR goals to reach.
2007-12-10 01:16:53 · answer #10 · answered by Yankee Thunder 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋