One quality that makes humans stand out apart from all other creatures is the ability to have moral standards that help us differentiate between right and wrong, good and bad. Having a rock-solid foundation of principles enables us to lead our life according to our own terms. Additionally, it also helps shape a unique and strong character that isn’t influenced by what others believe or do, just as the following quote suggests.
“If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.
Where Does The Quote Originate From
The aforementioned quote is commonly misattributed to Rosa Parks, The Mother of The Freedom Movement. She was a famous activist in the United States who initiated a civil rights movement which has put an end to discriminatory behavior against African Americans. Her bravery in confronting injustice and discrimination earned her International recognition for fighting against racial segregation in public transport.
Rosa Parks was an adamant supporter of fairness and equal treatment of every citizen. Driven by her passion in fighting for just treatment for all individuals, she worked alongside renowned civil rights leaders like Edgar Nixon and Martin Luther King Jr to ensure justice prevails and African Americans’ misery comes to an end.
She has written an autobiography that richly entails the details of her life and the challenges she faced in fighting the prejudiced system in America. She has also written other books depicting African Americans’ struggles in the United States. However, the quote isn’t found in any of the books she authored.
One of the earliest origins of a quote of a similar nature was printed in an Ohio newspaper in 1927. The words were different, but they conveyed a similar message.
It is easier to fall for anything than to stand for something.
Who Was Rosa Parks
Rosa Louise McCauley was the daughter of James McCauley, a carpenter, and Leona Edwards, a teacher in Tuskegee, Alabama. Rosa was 2 years old when her parents separated, and she went on to live with her grandparents. Since her childhood, she witnessed the inhumane behavior towards African Americans.
She had seen the families receiving death threats, and their schools and churches were burned down. Rosa had seen her grandfather stay awake at night with a rifle in his hand to protecting them from any risk of violence. This wasn’t the only time when Rosa experienced racism. Throughout her life, she experienced unfair treatment at school, on public transport and even in restaurants.
But a small shred of courage in the Montgomery bus incident gave Rosa strength to speak up against racial segregation in public transport. Had she not spoken up for herself, she might have continued to suffer from the derogatory behavior of the officials throughout her life.
The Montgomery Bus Incident
In 1955, Rosa was riding a crowded bus where a few white passengers were standing. The bus was segregated into 2 portions, one was for white Americans, and the other one was for African Americans. When the driver noticed that white passengers were standing, he ordered the black passengers to stand up and give up their seats. Three black passengers eventually did as they were told. However, Rosa Parks refused to follow the driver’s orders and didn’t leave her seat.
Consequently, she was arrested and fined for the offense, but it neither changed her views on racism nor scared her to accept the unjust treatment. Instead, she appealed the conviction with the help of Edgar Nixon and convinced African Americans to boycott the Montgomery city bus service as at the time they contributed to seventy percent of the bus company revenue.
After 381 days of the boycott of the Montgomery bus, people started protests against racial segregation throughout the United States. Finally, on November 13, 1956, the U.S Supreme Court declared segregated bus seating unconstitutional. The court also ordered a mixed seating system forever putting a stop to the prejudicial seating system in public transport.
Rosa’s small act of courage and acting on what she believed resulted in a remarkable change for the African American community.
What is the Meaning of the Quote
The earlier mentioned quote delivers an important message stating that it is important to have a proper set of beliefs, principles, and objectives to have a clear vision of what you want in life. Without strong values, we will fail to steer our life in our desired direction. Furthermore, we will always keep following someone else`s orders, simply because of the lack of our personal morals and principles.
On the contrary, a person with a strong foundation of values and ethics will strive live on their own terms. They will never compromise their beliefs, even if the world goes against them. Instead of doing what everyone does or giving into peer pressure, they stand firm and hold their ground even when they are alone.
“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.
Thomas Jefferson
Setting high moral and personal standards, and practicing them in your daily life, protects your uniqueness and individuality. You do not go against your code of conduct to gain the acceptance or happiness of people around you. Instead of seeking people’s pleasure, you prefer to keep your conscience clean. Hence, you continue living according to your personal standards instead of trying to keep the world happy.
Inner peace is a byproduct of how you choose to live your life
Frank Sonnenberg
Besides living peacefully, being a man or a woman of principle, gives us clarity and simplifies our decision-making process. Our morals make it easier to analyze what’s good for us and what’s not. We do not take forever to make a decision or depend on others to give our life purpose. We make decisions for ourselves based on our experience, intelligence and planning. When things do not turn out to be what we expected, we own it and learn from our mistakes.
On the other hand, making a decision is an uphill task for someone who doesn’t abide by their own values. They often fail to choose what’s best for them and navigate their life according to other people’s opinions.
Why is It Important To Stand Up For Yourself
Love is a beautiful emotion; it adds meaning to our lives and makes it worth living. We are often taught to unconditionally love our parents, family members, kids, spouse, and friends. Yet, we are never taught to love ourselves and care for our needs as well. The first step to loving and respecting ourselves is refusing to accept ill treatment from anyone.
Once you surrender to the mistreatment, not only do you lose your own self-worth but you also entice other people around you to continue disrespecting you. Eventually, you will lose control of how people treat you. On the contrary, if you speak up and stand firm for yourself, you will appear more confident, and your peers will refrain from mistreating you.
Standing up for yourself doesn’t mean that you have to use force or coercion to make people agree with you. It simply means not allowing anyone in your life to make you feel insufficient or less valuable. Under no circumstances should you accept people making you feel bad or inferior to anyone. Because if you tolerate the derogatory behavior once, you will also lower your value in your own eyes. Therefore, never be afraid to speak up for yourself. Love and respect yourself enough to resist anyone or anything that belittles you or forces you to compromise on your mental well-being and happiness.
Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye.
Helen Keller