You will notice that I have said, a powerful impression, not necessarily a good impression. If that does not deter you read on.
The best way to impress people is by not giving a damn what they think of you.
Quoting from Emerson’s essay on Self Reliance:
Honor is venerable to us because it is no ephemeris. It is always ancient virtue. We worship it to-day because it is not of to-day. We love it and pay it homage, because it is not a trap for our love and homage, but is self-dependent, self-derived, and therefore of an old immaculate pedigree, even if shown in a young person.
This is perhaps the reason I attracted so much interest amongst people from high society earlier in my life. Ever since I read the above essay I have tried not to care what people thought of me. And that is the best way to make people think that there is something of substance within you.
Another quote from the essay that influenced me is as under:
Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world. I remember an answer which when quite young I was prompted to make to a valued adviser, who was wont to importune me with the dear old doctrines of the church. On my saying, What have I to do with the sacredness of traditions, if I live wholly from within? my friend suggested,–“But these impulses may be from below, not from above.” I replied, “They do not seem to me to be such; but if I am the Devil’s child, I will live then from the Devil.” No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature. Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my constitution, the only wrong what is against it. A man is to carry himself in the presence of all opposition, as if everything were titular and ephemeral but he.
https://archive.vcu.edu/english/engweb/transcendentalism/authors/emerson/essays/selfreliance.html
No wonder my behaviour was such that people thought me a trouble maker and a source of mischief. High society people were afraid that other would have the same independence in thinking and acting as I did. In India obedience and respect for elders is stressed and the people who victimized me were prepared to break the law to ensure it.
But this article is about impressing people and doing so without getting into unnecessary trouble.
You can let Emerson be your guide but keep in mind this wise dictum from the Bible:
When in Rome do as Romans do.
Unless there is a point of principle involved do not get into fights or altercations or disagreements. Life is challenging enough without our going out of our way to look for trouble.
Also the celebrated two sentences from Shakespeare’s Hamlet are relevant:
To be or not to be. That is the question.
As an example of how the above applies to our daily life consider this: You notice someone jumping the red light or witness some other minor traffic violation. Quite possibly you do not like what you see. But you are not a cop directing traffic. So it is not your business to remedy or punish the traffic violator.
A third (related) mistake that I made was that I did not heed another chestnut from the Bible:
Judge not that you be not judged.
These three concepts will go a long way to your being able to live life as Emerson would have wanted and at the same time avoiding unnecessary altercations.
You may be wondering why we should give Emerson so much importance. Actually, Mahatma Gandhi thought Emerson’s essays were founded on Indian spiritual teachings. Secondly you will be able to make an impression on people as I said earlier. And lastly you will be able to live a satisfying life connected to what your nature requires you to do.
As the Bhagavad Gita says:
It is better to do your own dharma (calling) even imperfectly, than someone else’s dharma perfectly. Even better to die in your dharma than in another’s, which brings great fear.
I am interpreting the word Dharma to mean your own nature.
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