Prompt: In chapter 5, Douglass writes, "I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather to be false, and incur my own abhorrence." What do you think this means, and do you feel the same way about yourself? Please explain your answer.
The quote by Fredrick Douglass, "I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, that to be false, and insur my own abhorrence." means, to me that you should be true to yourself, even if people make fun of you and or judge you, rather than being false to yourself because you will only have hatred for being false to yourself. In this autobiography, Douglass states that when he was chosen to go work in Baltimore it was because he was blessed by a God of some sort. He also said that people might have judged him for being superstitious or egotistical. When Douglass said "I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, that to be false, and insur my own abhorrence." he meant, even though people are calling him names (such as egotistical and superstitious) for thinking he was blessed by a God, he wouldn't stop believing it because if he wasn't true to himself about it it could have changed his view on having the opportunity to go live in Baltimore.
This quote can relate to not just Fredrick Douglass, but many other subjects. I can relate this to myself. For me, if I didn't believe or stay true to myself (because the thought of someone judging me) I wouldn't be able to do or think something that I wanted to do or think. If I was being false to myself while doing something it wouldn't be meaningful or I wouldn't even be doing that something. There have been moments in my life when I had to stay true to my opinion and not care about what other people thought. But there have also been moments in my life when I was peer pressured into thinking something that I disagreed with, but had to go along with it, just for the sake of people not judging me.
The quote by Fredrick Douglass, "I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, that to be false, and insur my own abhorrence." means, to me that you should be true to yourself, even if people make fun of you and or judge you, rather than being false to yourself because you will only have hatred for being false to yourself. In this autobiography, Douglass states that when he was chosen to go work in Baltimore it was because he was blessed by a God of some sort. He also said that people might have judged him for being superstitious or egotistical. When Douglass said "I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, that to be false, and insur my own abhorrence." he meant, even though people are calling him names (such as egotistical and superstitious) for thinking he was blessed by a God, he wouldn't stop believing it because if he wasn't true to himself about it it could have changed his view on having the opportunity to go live in Baltimore.
This quote can relate to not just Fredrick Douglass, but many other subjects. I can relate this to myself. For me, if I didn't believe or stay true to myself (because the thought of someone judging me) I wouldn't be able to do or think something that I wanted to do or think. If I was being false to myself while doing something it wouldn't be meaningful or I wouldn't even be doing that something. There have been moments in my life when I had to stay true to my opinion and not care about what other people thought. But there have also been moments in my life when I was peer pressured into thinking something that I disagreed with, but had to go along with it, just for the sake of people not judging me.
I really like how well you put this quote into context and related it to Frederick Douglass's personal experiences. Good post!
ReplyDeleteI think this was written very well because the quote you chose to use connects really well with the Fredrick douglass readings. Great wording througout. Great job!
ReplyDeleteThis was written very well, I especially enjoyed your use of quotations directly from the text within your post. This post was quite similar to my feelings on this text, and I feel like it summed up the ideas well.
ReplyDeleteI too enjoyed your textual references and the application of the quote directly into your life. I too, in some cases, don't stay true to myself due to social pressures and or fear of being judged or rejected.
ReplyDeleteWhen did you create this philosophy for yourself? Everyone eventually figures it out. I think you answered the question very thoroughly and I like that you used your own life examples to prove your point. Also, an unrelated question, how did you get your blog background to look like it does? I really like it. :)
ReplyDeleteI thought you explained the quote really well and responded on what you think. I was a really good post.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with everything you said, and I think you understood the meaning of this quote and applied it to your life very well. I also think that you did a very good job of explaining what you were thinking, and I did not have any trouble following what you said.
ReplyDeleteI agree with others that the quote you used for this post was well chosen. You also had some strong points that made your post more interesting and well wrote out.
ReplyDeleteI like your analysis of the context this quote was said in as it helps to better understand the quote and prevent miscommunication and I also like how you related this back to real life.
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