Independent Thinking Quotes

• Small is the number of them that see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts.

  Albert Einstein

  Inspirational, Being Yourself, Heart

  "The World As I See It (Letter to a Friend of Peace)". Book by Albert Einstein, 1949.

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• When a man becomes a conformist, he is sacrificing the richness of independent thinking.

  Ralph Waldo Emerson

  Independent, Sacrifice, Men

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• Responsibility to yourself means refusing to let others do your thinking, talking, and naming for you; it means learning to respect and use your own brains and instincts; hence, grappling with hard work.

  Adrienne Rich

  Strong Women, Hard Work, Mean

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• Blind belief in authority is the greatest enemy of truth.

  Albert Einstein

  Inspirational, Spiritual, Atheist

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• Independent thinking is not encouraged in a professional Army. It is a form of mutiny. Obedience is the supreme virtue.

  David Lloyd George

  War, Independent, Army

  David Lloyd George “War Memoirs of David Lloyd George: 1918”

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  Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds!

  Bob Marley

  Inspirational, Music, Song

  "Redemption Song" (song) (1980)

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• The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks.

  Christopher Hitchens

  Lying, Independent, Thinking

  Christopher Hitchens (2009). “Letters to a Young Contrarian”, p.3, Basic Books

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• The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any.

  Alice Walker

  Inspirational, Motivational, Positive

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• Freethinkers are those who are willing to use their minds without prejudice and without fearing to understand things that clash with their own customs, privileges, or beliefs. This state of mind is not common, but it is essential for right thinking.

  Leo Tolstoy

  Honesty, Fear, Independent

  graf Leo Tolstoy, Aylmer Maude (1934). “The Works of Leo Tolstoy ...: On life and essays on religion, tr. by Aylmer Maude”

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  If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun.

  Katharine Hepburn

  Inspirational, Life, Inspiring

  Katharine Hepburn (1987). “The making of The African Queen, or, How I went to Africa with Bogart, Bacall, and Huston and almost lost my mind”, Alfred A. Knopf

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• The development of general ability for independent thinking and judgment should always be placed foremost, not the acquisition of special knowledge.

  Albert Einstein

  Education, Independent, Thinking

  Albert Einstein (2011). “Out of My Later Years: The Scientist, Philosopher, and Man Portrayed Through His Own Words”, p.29, Open Road Media

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• None but ourselves can free our minds.

  Bob Marley

  Inspirational, Life, Music

  "Redemption Song" (song) (1980)

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

  Emma Goldman

  Independent, People, Independence

  Emma Goldman (1914). “The Social Significance of the Modern Drama”

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• Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous.

  Confucius

  Education, Wise, Clever

  Confucius (2014). “Confucian Analects”, p.9, Simon and Schuster

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• To think is to differ.

  Clarence Darrow

  Education, Teacher, Thinking

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• Independent thinking alone is not suited to interdependent reality.

  Stephen Covey

  Independent, Reality, Thinking

  Stephen R. Covey (2016). “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change Interactive Edition”, p.59, Mango Media Inc.

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• The arts are statistically proven to increase independent thinking, creativity, discipline, balance, and academic improvement in children.

  Mya

  Art, Children, Creativity

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• In Hinduism, conscience, reason and independent thinking have no scope for development.

  B. R. Ambedkar

  Independent, Thinking, Hinduism And Buddhism

  "Political Science for Civil Services Main Examination". Book by N.D. Arora, 2010.

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• Newspapers should be read for the study of facts. They should not be allowed to kill the habit of independent thinking.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Independent, Thinking, Facts

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• Compliant children are very easily led when they are young, because they thrive on approval and pleasing adults. They are just aseasily led in their teen years, because they still seek the same two things: approval and the pleasing their peers. Strong-willed children are never easily led by anybody--not by you, but also not by their peers. So celebrate your child's strength of will throughout the early years...and know that the independent thinking you are fostering will serve him well in the critical years to come.

  Barbara Coloroso

  Strong, Children, Independent

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• Flags are bits of colored cloth that governments use first to shrink-wrap people’s brains and then as ceremonial shrouds to bury the dead. When independent-thinking people (and here I do not include the corporate media) begin to rally under flags, when writers, painters, musicians, film makers suspend their judgment and blindly yoke their art to the service of the “Nation,” it’s time for all of us to sit up and worry.

  Arundhati Roy

  Art, Independent, Thinking

  "Come September". Arundhati Roy's Speech at the Lensic Performing Arts Center, Santa Fe, NM, September 29, 2002.

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• The thing about science-fiction fans and "Star Wars" fans is they're very independent-thinking people. They all think outside the box, but they all have very strong ideas about what should happen, and they think it should be their way. Which is fine, except I'm making the movies, so I should have it my way.

  George Lucas

  Strong, Stars, War

  Source: movieweb.com

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• Active management strategies demand uninstitutional behavior from institutions, creating a paradox that few can unravel. Establishing and maintaining an unconventional investment profile requires acceptance of uncomfortably idiosyncratic portfolios, which frequently appear downright imprudent in the eyes of conventional wisdom.

  David F. Swensen

  Independent, Eye, Acceptance

  David F. Swensen (2009). “Pioneering Portfolio Management: An Unconventional Approach to Institutional Investment, Fully Revised and Updated”, p.8, Simon and Schuster

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• America is the greatest engine of innovation that has ever existed, and it can't be duplicated anytime soon, because it is the product of a multitude of factors: extreme freedom of thought, an emphasis on independent thinking, a steady immigration of new minds, a risk-taking culture with no stigma attached to trying and failing, a noncorrupt bureaucracy, and financial markets and a venture capital system that are unrivaled at taking new ideas and turning them into global products.

  Thomas Friedman

  Independent, Thinking, Ideas

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• It is the long term investor who will in practice come in for the most criticism. For it is the essence of his behaviour that he should be eccentric, unconventional and rash in the eyes of the average opinion. If he is successful, that will only confirm the general belief in his rashness; and if in the short run he is unsuccessful, which is very likely, he will not receive much mercy. Worldly wisdom teaches that it is better for reputation to fail conventionally than to succeed unconventionally.

  John Maynard Keynes

  Running, Independent, Eye

  1936 The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money.

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