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He who lets the world, or his own portion of it, choose his plan of life for him, has no need of any other faculty than the ape-like one of imitation.
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“He who lets the world, or his own portion of it, choose his plan of life for him, has no need of any other faculty than the ape-like one of imitation.”

John Stuart Mill

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Source
On Liberty
Date
1859
Meaning

Meaning of “He who lets the world, or his own…”

A life copied from convention leaves important human faculties unused; choosing deliberately requires observation, judgment and firmness.

Source context

Where does it come from?

On Liberty, Chapter III; Mill contrasts imitation with actively choosing one’s own plan of life.

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Be YourselfConfidence Quotes About Ability & Self-TrustCourage Quotes About Acting Despite FearDecisionGoalsIdentityIndependenceInspirational Quotes About Hope, Courage & PossibilityLifeLife AdviceLoveMindMotivation For LifeMotivational Quotes for Action, Effort & PersistenceSelf LoveSelf RelianceSelf TrustSelf-Respect Quotes About Dignity & BoundariesThinking Quotes About Reasoning, Reflection & Judgment
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Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.
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“Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson · Self-Reliance · 1841
Meaning & context

Emerson argues that mature character requires enough independence to resist conformity when conviction points elsewhere.

Source details

Essays, First Series, essay II, “Self-Reliance,” Project Gutenberg #2944. “Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist” follows Emerson’s claim that society conspires against the manhood of its members through conformity. The represented Gutenberg witness prints a comma after “man,” while the frozen catalog quotation omits that punctuation; the wording is otherwise the same. It remains Transcendentalist moral rhetoric about self-trust and independence rather than a universal instruction to reject social norms or expertise.

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To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.
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“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.”

Oscar Wilde · The Soul of Man under Socialism · 1891
Meaning & context

Wilde separates deliberate individual living from merely passing through existence, making self-realization and chosen purpose part of what it means to live fully.

Source details

The Soul of Man under Socialism; Wilde develops individualism as the freedom to form a life from within rather than conform to social expectation.

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