#independent-thought

"Inevitably it follows that anyone with an independent mind must become 'one who resists or opposes an authority or established convention': a rebel. ...And if enough people come to agree with—and follow—the REBEL, we now have a DEVIL. Until, of course, still more people agree. And then, finally, we have ... GREATNESS."

"Orthodoxy is a relaxation of the mind accompanied by a stiffening of the heart."

"Thinking is hard work, which is why you don't see many people doing it."

"Fools have a habit of believing that everything written by a famous author is admirable. For my part I read only to please myself and like only what suits my taste."

"A foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth."

"When we blindly adopt a religion, a political system, a literary dogma, we become automatons."

"People have only as much liberty as they have the intelligence to want and the courage to take."

"In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual."

"[A] quotation is a handy thing to have about, saving one the trouble of thinking for oneself, always a laborious business."(The Record Lie)"

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him will believeth in anything. - Hitchens 3:16"

"To go wrong in one's own way is better than to go right in someone else's."