I've been practicing typing recently using a website that gives you quotes submitted by its users, and I've came across way too much self-affirming bullshit. Be yourself, follow your dreams, don't care what others think, never give up, and so on. I couldn't help but think that a lot of this drivel would still apply if your dream happened to be becoming a serial killer or a child molester. And I wasn't the only one with thoughts like that: the guys at the Onion must've had them too, because they published this article:
Constantly Worrying What Other People Think About Your War Crimes Is No Way To Live Your Life. Ostensibly by Bashar al-Assad.
It’s human nature to try to please people, but you shouldn’t let others make your decisions for you. If you rely too much on the validation of others, you may never feel confident enough to open up that small business, go skydiving, or authorize sarin gas attacks against your own people. You have to do these things for yourself and no one else, and if mass atrocities are what’s truly in your heart, why should it matter what other people say?
As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being.
--Carl Jung