"Public opinion is a weak tyrant compared with our ow private opinion. What a man thinks of himself, that is which determines, or rather indicates, his fate."
Public opinion plays a much larger role in someones fate than Thoreau believes. Each day many people base what they wear, how they look, and what they say on how they want others to view them. They want the public opinion to be positive and may change their actions to fit into others expectations. It is in human nature to strive to please others and receive appraisal in return.
Many times what people think of themselves, is not genuinely their own opinion. It is shaped and molded by interactions with other people. Positive interactions generate a higher self esteem of ones self and negative interactions generate the opposite. How people view us effects how we view ourselves. Being constantly put down by others would cause someone to believe those put downs are true.
It would be nicer to believe that our own opinions have more influence on our fate than others do, but in my opinion this is untrue. To solely base our lives off our own opinions and never consider outside forces we would need to block out all outside forces by living in solitude. We have forever changing and developing opinions.
An example of this is an adolescent becoming a teenager. That's a time where teens can become their own person and create their own beliefs about themselves and the world around them. They experiment with style and music and believe they are truly their own person. Yet, the way they portray themselves is with the intentions of having others view them they way they want the audience to view them. No matter how much we think we are doing things solely for ourselves, societies impact is just too great to completely ignore and shut out.
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