Quotes (anything that is expressed for that matter) can be taken out of context, interpreted the wrong way, edited, to fit a narrative for propaganda, politics, news, agenda, promotion, etc., and can be used in a positive, neutral, or negative way. You see them framed, used as art pieces, posted on walls, set in the background of a PC or phone, etc. Quotes mean something to a great number of people and some people swear and live by them.
I’ve been desiring to do something with quotes on my blog to serve as content for developabetteryou.com for some time now. Now is that time, without further adieu, I present the first quote I will analyze and assess, for truth, clarity, and enhance them through a post with my own thoughts for your benefit, in an effort to help me and you, to get into the habit of not accepting words, quotes, at face value, to put a good effort into thinking with clarity, perspective, and truth in mind and not be fooled by the allure of “good” words or sentences because “it sounds nice” or fits well with a graphic or beautiful picture in the background of those words. The goal of this exercise or way of thinking about quotes is to get you thinking, get your brain working, and learn more and be less ignorant, and be more aware of your thinking habits, in an effort to better yourself.
Keep in mind, this isn’t to belittle or put down any authors or discredit their works, but to shed light on your thinking habits and to put effort into thinking (and better if possible), with clarity and truth in mind. Not everyone has the same thinking level or perspective.
Credit where credit is due, the image source came from the “Awareness Act” Facebook group and was posted on November 29, 2021. If you’re a Facebook user, I recommend checking them out and following them.
For those of you who can’t see the words on the image, the quote is: “Be Yourself. No one can say you are doing it wrong.” – a quote by Charles Schultz.
Let’s look at “Be Yourself.” This would be good advice for some people and not all people, depending on your mindset and outlook. Let me explain.
A personality that may be real, possible, and probable–in which this would not be helpful for the people that are around someone who is more disposed to do evil, harm, to themselves and others, and has no good sense or judgment, and is just a menace to society.
This quote may be helpful to someone who may be timid, shy, struggling with anxiety, or struggling with comfortably being themselves around certain people, but are more disposed to do good with consideration of other people.
And for those who are in that type of situation here are some words that came to mind as words of encouragement and advice: Comfortably be yourself with good intentions if you are disposed to do good but are afraid of what people may think, or are afraid of being judged. Have confidence and be brave, but be considerate of the people you are around when you decide to comfortably be yourself.
Let’s now look at the other part of the quote: “…No one can say you are doing it wrong.”, on a side note, I did like the post on Facebook because of the image and partially due to the words and put my own comment because I felt compelled to with an effort to make it more truthful and clear some assumptions I was having and I wanted to express myself without fear of expression or being judged, my comment is as follows, “People can say you are doing it wrong [by being yourself], people can say whatever, really. Be yourself, no one can do it for you, but you.”
The way I take this quote can be totally different of how you [the reader] understand it. I see it having to do in part with confidence, self-esteem, anxiety, conformity (due to the image). What do you think? Please leave a comment below to share your thoughts.
Some lessons or advice to get out of this post:
- Be careful or mindful of the quotes or information you share with certain types of people, some people just might take it the wrong way and may cause more harm than good.
- Don’t be afraid to speak your mind or share your thoughts and express them, within reason, consideration, and good judgement–There’s a right place and right time with the right people to do just that. A guideline to follow is, if you don’t have anything good to say don’t say it. Not talking or being silent is an option that I’ve been doing good portion, if not my whole life, with certain people/groups of people.
- Do put more effort into understanding what you’re reading and why you may or may not like it, have a dictionary on standby and use it often.
- Do think, experiment, test, or research if a quote is true or not, just because a large number of people like it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s true or accurate
- Do use “hand-picked” quotes in your life to ehance and make it better.
Bonus: “Be careful of what you listen to, the people you listen to, the people you hang around with, the stuff you read or look at, the environment you put yourself in. You just may end up lost, not being who you want or wanted to be, or worse, not being you, but a [bad] copy of them.” – A quote by Gershon Ouano