You can't please everyone, nor should you seek to, because then you won't please anyone, least of all yourself.
Interpretation
It's impossible to satisfy everyone, and trying to do so can lead to disappointing yourself.
This quote emphasizes the futility of attempting to meet the diverse expectations of others. By striving to please everyone, an individual risks losing their own identity and satisfaction, ultimately resulting in a scenario where no one, including themselves, is pleased. The essence of the quote conveys the importance of prioritizing one's own happiness and values over the opinions of others.
In practice
In a motivational speech about self-acceptance, one could use this quote to highlight the importance of personal happiness.
My drive to put myself on the line comes from boredom. From that feeling when you go to bed and think, 'What did I do today?' It doesn't have to be something monumental, just a feeling that you really tried to look at something, or look into something.
I don't envision a very long life for myself. I think my life will run out before my work does. I've designed it that way.
You either ride life or it rides you. Your mental attitude determines who is 'rider' and who is 'horse.'
You're getting well,' Samuel said. 'Some people think it's an insult to the glory of their sickness to get well. But the time poultice is no respecter of glories. Everyone gets well if he waits around.
The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men, Gang aft a-gley, And leave us nought but grief and pain, For promised joy.
I wish I had a memory of that first violent shove, the shock of cold air, the sting of oxygen into new lungs. Everyone should remember being born. It doesn't seem fair that we only remember dying.
I think so, too. I know I felt that way. For years. It was as if I was a character in a movie and the real action was about to start at any minute. But I think some people wait forever, and only at the end of their lives do they realize that their life has happened while they were waiting for it to start.
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