It's a full life, if a trifle banal

When I first saw the quote on your icon - and not being too familiar with the poem itself - I read it as people keeping their chosen course despite what governments might do. And then when I read it in the context of the whole thing, it seemed as though it might refer to people blindly following their governments away from progress - although not clearly enough that I could abandon the first reading! I did puzzle my brain over it.