Thinking for oneself

Explore 22 quotes about Thinking for oneself

The strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone.

Henrik Ibsen

An Enemy of the People

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Topic

Solitude Thinking for oneself

Speaker

Doctor Thomas Stockmann

Author

Henrik Ibsen

Source

An Enemy of the People

Medium

Play

Statement Type

Closing lines

Language

Norwegian

Time

1882 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Ibsen, Henrik. En folkefiende [An Enemy of the People]. Kobenhavn: Gyldendalske Boghandels Forlag, 1882, act 5.

Current Citation

Ibsen, Henrik. "An Enemy of the People." A Doll's House and Other Plays, translated by Deborah Dawkin and Erik Skuggevik. Penguin Classics, 2016, act 5.

It were not best that we should all think alike; it is difference of opinion that makes horse races.

Mark Twain

Pudd'nhead Wilson

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Topic

Diversity of opinion Thinking for oneself

Author

Mark Twain

Source

Pudd'nhead Wilson

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1894 1890s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Twain, Mark. "Pudd'nhead Wilson." The Century Magazine, Nov. 1893-Oct. 1894.

Current Citation

Twain, Mark. "Pudd'nhead Wilson." Pudd'nHead Wilson and Other Tales, edited by R.D. Gooder. Oxford University Press, 2009.

Being in a minority, even a minority of one, did not make you mad. There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad.

George Orwell

Nineteen Eighty-Four

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Topic

Truth Thinking for oneself

Author

George Orwell

Source

Nineteen Eighty-Four

Medium

Novel

Genre

Dystopian fiction

Language

English

Time

1949 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. Secker & Warburg, 1949, pt. 2, ch. 9.

Whenever you find you are on the side of the majority, it is time to reform.

Mark Twain

More information about this quote

Topic

Questioning one's beliefs Majority opinions Thinking for oneself The masses Consensus

Author

Mark Twain

Source

Journals of Mark Twain

Medium

Personal journal

Statement Type

Advice

Language

English

Time

1904 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Twain, Mark. Mark Twain's Notebook, edited by Albert Bigelow Paine. The Mark Twain Company, 1932, ch. 35. Originally from Notebook, c. 1904.

If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.

Haruki Murakami

Norwegian Wood

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Topic

Thinking for oneself Thinking outside the box Books

Speaker

Nagasawa

Author

Haruki Murakami

Source

Norwegian Wood

Medium

Novel

Language

Japanese

Time

1987 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Murakami, Haruki. ノルウェイの森 [Norwegian Wood]. Kodansha, 1987.

When you read, don't just consider what the author thinks, consider what you think.

Dead Poets Society

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Topic

Thinking for oneself

Speaker

John Keating

Actor

Robin Williams

Source

Dead Poets Society

Medium

Film

Genre

Teen (film) Drama (film) Teen Drama

Language

English

Time

1989 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Dead Poets Society. Directed by Peter Weir, Touchstone Pictures/Silver Screen Partners IV, 1989.

It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essays: First Series (Emerson)

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Topic

Thinking for oneself

Author

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Source

Self-Reliance Essays: First Series (Emerson)

Medium

Essay

Language

English

Time

1841 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Self-Reliance." Essays: First Series. Boston: James Munroe and Company, 1841.

Current Citation

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Self-Reliance (1841)." The Portable Emerson, edited by Jeffrey S. Cramer. Penguin Classics, 2014.

We need more dissent and less dogma.

Camille Paglia

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Topic

Thinking outside the box Thinking for oneself Dissent Dogma Doubt and skepticism

Speaker

Camille Paglia

Source

Spiked

Medium

Interview

Language

English

Time

2015 2010s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Paglia, Camille. "Feminist Trouble." Interviewed by Ella Whelan. Spiked Magazine, 10 Dec. 2015, www.spiked-online.com/2015/12/10/feminist-trouble/.

The man who has no inner life is a slave to his surroundings.

Henri Frederic Amiel

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Topic

Inner life Thinking for oneself

Author

Henri Frederic Amiel

Source

Journals of Henri Frederic Amiel

Medium

Personal journal

Language

French

Time

1883 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Amiel, Henri-Frédéric. Journal entry. 7 Jan. 1866.

Every man paddle his own canoe.

Frederick Marryat

Settlers in Canada

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Topic

Thinking for oneself

Speaker

Anonymous First Nations chief

Author

Frederick Marryat

Source

Settlers in Canada

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1844 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Marryat, Frederick. The Settlers in Canada. London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1844, ch. 8.

You don't need to follow me! You don't need to follow anybody! You got to think for yourselves! You're all individuals! You're all different!

Monty Python's Life of Brian

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Topic

Thinking for oneself

Speaker

Brian Cohen

Actor

Graham Chapman

Source

Monty Python's Life of Brian

Medium

Film

Genre

Comedy (film) Comedy

Language

English

Time

1979 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Monty Python's Life of Brian. Directed by Terry Jones, Handmade Films/Python (Monty) Pictures, 1979.

Heretics are the only bitter remedy against the entropy of human thought.

Yevgeny Zamyatin

More information about this quote

Topic

Thinking for oneself Orthodoxy Innovation Heretics Progress

Author

Yevgeny Zamyatin

Source

On Literature, Revolution, Entropy and Other Matters

Medium

Essay

Genre

Political literature Philosophical literature

Language

Russian

Time

1923 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 0

Citation

Zamyatin, Yevgeny. "On Literature, Revolution, Entropy and Other Matters." A Soviet Heretic, translated by Mirra Ginsburg. University of Chicago Press, 1970. Originally published in 1923.

The number of those who undergo the fatigue of judging for themselves is very small indeed.

Richard Brinsley Sheridan

The Critic

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Topic

Thinking for oneself

Speaker

Mr. Puff

Author

Richard Brinsley Sheridan

Source

The Critic

Medium

Play

Genre

Satire (play) Satire

Language

English

Time

1779 1770s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Sheridan, Richard Brinsley. The Critic. 1779, Drury Lane Theatre, London, England, UK, act 1, sc. 2.

No one can possibly achieve any real and lasting success or "get rich" in business by being a conformist.

J. Paul Getty

More information about this quote

Topic

Thinking for oneself Conformity Taking risks Business

Author

J. Paul Getty

Source

How to Be Rich

Language

English

Time

1965 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Getty, Jean Paul. How to Be Rich. Playboy Press, 1965.

Orthodoxy means not thinking—not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness.

George Orwell

Nineteen Eighty-Four

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Topic

Thinking for oneself Awareness

Speaker

Syme

Author

George Orwell

Source

Nineteen Eighty-Four

Medium

Novel

Genre

Dystopian fiction

Language

English

Time

1949 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. Secker & Warburg, 1949, pt. 1, ch. 5.

Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essays: First Series (Emerson)

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Topic

Being a man Authenticity Thinking for oneself Conformity

Author

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Source

Self-Reliance Essays: First Series (Emerson)

Medium

Essay

Language

English

Time

1841 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Self-Reliance." Essays: First Series. Boston: James Munroe and Company, 1841.

Current Citation

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Self-Reliance (1841)." The Portable Emerson, edited by Jeffrey S. Cramer. Penguin Classics, 2014.

I am the only free man on this train and the rest of you are cattle.

Doctor Zhivago

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Topic

Sheep and lemmings Thinking for oneself

Speaker

Kostoyed

Actor

Klaus Kinski

Source

Doctor Zhivago

Medium

Film

Genre

Epic (film) Romantic drama (film) Epic Romantic drama

Language

English

Time

1965 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Doctor Zhivago. Directed by David Lean, Carlo Ponti Productions/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1965.

One should as a rule respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny.

Bertrand Russell

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Topic

Thinking for oneself Conformity

Author

Bertrand Russell

Source

The Conquest of Happiness

Genre

Philosophical literature

Statement Type

Advice

Language

English

Time

1930 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Russell, Bertrand. The Conquest of Happiness. Liveright, 1930, ch. 9.

I hate quotation. Tell me what you know.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

More information about this quote

Topic

Thinking for oneself Quotations

Author

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Source

Journals of Ralph Waldo Emerson

Medium

Personal journal

Language

English

Time

1849 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Journal entry. May 1849.

A man who is always ready to believe what is told him will never do well.

Gaius Petronius

Satyricon

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Topic

Thinking for oneself Doubt and skepticism Credulity

Author

Gaius Petronius

Source

Satyricon

Medium

Novel

Language

Latin

Time

66 60s 1st century

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Petronius. Satyricon, Satyricon liber [The Book of Satyrlike Adventures]. c. 1st century AD, sect. 43.

Current Citation

Petronius. "The Satyricon." The Satyricon and The Apocolocyntosis of the Divine Claudius, translated by J. P. Sullivan. Penguin Classics, 1986, sect. 43.