I felt down in my soul the clear and unmistakable conviction to disobey all, and pursue my own way.

— Walt Whitman, recalling his response to Ralph Waldo Emerson’s attempt (during a long Boston Common walk in 1860) to convince him to soften the “Children of Adam” poems. Whitman didn’t. Cited by Popova in a piece on how to receive criticism from people you admire.