Applause

Today I was reading "John Adams" by David McCullough and read the following. I thought it was so good that I would share it.
"He (speaking of John Adams) perceived life as a striving drama like that of the theater, but with significant differences, as he wrote to a classmate, Charles Cushing:
'Upon common theaters, indeed, the applause of the audience is of more importance to the actors than their own approbation. But upon the stage of life, while conscience claps, let the world hiss! On the contrary if conscience disapproves, the loudest applauses of the world are of little value.'