"if a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a di

[NikolaiI]

What does the following quote mean to you?

"if a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer."
H. Thoreau

I'm asking for a friend, and I'd be very grateful for analysis and interpretation. It might be helpful to look at the context. Just googling it, I found it sometimes grouped with the sentence before and sometimes with the one after. Thank you.

[Logos]

On this site it is contained in Chapter 18, the Conclusion:
http://www.online-literature.com/thoreau/walden/18/

"Why should we be in such desperate haste to succeed and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away. It is not important that he should mature as soon as an apple tree or an oak. Shall he turn his spring into summer?...."

I haven't read Walden in years, but to me it's a summing up of his philosophy, to embrace your different-ness, be daring, take a chance, take the road less travelled and all that :) I think he's also suggesting that some people don't realise that they think differently or don't follow the crowd, but his message is positive and hopeful.

[bazarov]

It's very positive quote, in my opinion.
If someone is acting and thinking different then his friends and his closer society, it doesn't mean that he isn't normal; he is just seeing some things on other way. Maybe he is smarter or wiser then the rest of them, but they don't realize that. Although, he probably knows that and he doesn't care too much about that. Be yourself, and never change your path, no matter of consequences.

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. "
Friedrich Nietzsche

[Midnight Runner]

It's the ultimate embrace of the Emersonian individualism which Thoreau championed throughout Walden. Be true to yourself. If you are different, that is good. Everyone is unique.

[Sindhu]

On this site it is contained in Chapter 18, the Conclusion:
http://www.online-literature.com/thoreau/walden/18/


I haven't read Walden in years, but to me it's a summing up of his philosophy, to embrace your different-ness, be daring, take a chance, take the road less travelled and all that :) I think he's also suggesting that some people don't realise that they think differently or don't follow the crowd, but his message is positive and hopeful.

I agree totally that it is a positive and hopeful message.
I would just like to point out that the several ways in which the essence of this quotation has entered into popular consciousness is an indication of its validity and significance. To give just one example, the pop song line "Different Strokes for Different folks"; which has also entered the theme song lyrics of about three TV shows, expresses the same idea in everyday language,and it would be difficult to find someone who does not know at least one version of this.:D . The proverb, (which, I suppose existed before Walden was composed) "You can't fit a square peg into a round hole" too says the same thing in its homely way.
It is also worth adding that Thoreau is not just giving advice to the individual about his/her uniqueness, and daring to be different; he is also warning society to desist from insisting on conformity, because "those who march to a different drummer" (from popular poetry phrases again! ;) ) may end up making the most valuable contributions to humanity as a whole.

[Logos]

.... this quotation has entered into popular consciousness....
Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken (http://www.online-literature.com/frost/755/) comes to mind too.

And in popular psychology, M. Scott Peck's The Road Less Traveled, then Further Along the Road Less Traveled challenges(ed) conventional psychological approaches to the difficulties we all face in life. Yes I remember the tv sitcom "Different Strokes" :p

[NikolaiI]

I haven't read Further Along the Road Less Traveled, but I am a fan of the first one. It was pretty enlighteneing what he said about love being an action and ego boundaries. Great book, and another favourite psychology book of mine is The Farther Reaches of Human Nature by A. Maslow. And after reading M. Scott Peck's book, I had to read a couple others on psychotherapy, which were definitely interesting.