Quotes About Conformity

No man ever followed his genius till it misled him. Though the result were bodily weakness, yet perhaps no one can say that the consequences were to be regretted, for these were a life in conformity to higher principles.

I do not wish to quarrel with any man or nation. I do not wish to split hairs, to make fine distinctions, or set myself up as better than my neighbors. I seek rather, I may say, even an excuse for conforming to the laws of the land. I am but too ready to conform to them.

Most men appear never to have considered what a house is, and are actually though needlessly poor all their lives because they think that they must have such a one as their neighbors have. As if one were to wear any sort of coat which the tailor might cut out for him, or gradually leaving off palm-leaf hat or cap of woodchuck skin, complain of hard times because he could not afford to buy him a crown!

Society is commonly too cheap.

La masse des hommes sert l'État de la sorte, pas en tant qu'hommes, mais comme des machines, avec leurs corps. Ils forment l'armée de métier, ainsi que la milice, les geôliers, policiers, posse comitatus, etc. Dans la plupart des cas, il n'existe aucun libre exercice du jugement ou du sens moral ; mais ils se mettent au niveau du bois, de la terre et des pierres ; et l'on pourrait réaliser des hommes de bois qui rempliraient aussi bien cette fonction.

We worship not the Graces, nor the Parcae, but Fashion. She spins and weaves and cuts with full authority. The head monkey at Paris puts on a traveller's cap, and all the monkeys in America do the same. I

The life which society proposes to me to live is so artificial and complex—bolstered up on many weak supports, and sure to topple down at last—that no man surely can ever be inspired to live it.

I rejoice that horses and steers have to be broken before they can be made the slaves of men, and that men themselves have some wild oats still left to sow before they become submissive members of society.

Una Minoranza che si conformi alla maggioranza è senza forza, non è neppure più una minoranza; ma diventa irresistibile quando si oppone con tutto il suo peso.

Again, I sometimes say to myself, When many millions of men, without heat, without ill will, without personal feelings of any kind, demand of you a few shillings only, without the possibility, such is their constitution, of retracting or altering their present demand, and without the possibility, on your side, of appeal to any other millions, why expose yourself to this overwhelming brute force?

I sometimes try my acquaintances by such tests as this;— who could wear a patch, or two extra seams only, over the knee? Most behave as if they believed that their prospects for life would be ruined if they should do it. It would be easier for them to hobble to town with a broken leg than with a broken pantaloon.

Mais que sont-ils? Des hommes, vraiment? ou bien de petites forteresses et de petits arsenaux mobiles, au service de quelque homme de pouvoir sans scrupule? Visitez la Base navale de Washington, et regardez un soldat: voilà le genre d'homme qu'un gouvernement américain a le pouvoir de créer, ou ce qu'un gouvernement américain peut faire d'un homme avec sa magie noire - à peine une ombre, à peine un souvenir de ce qu'est l'humanité [...] P.8

VýstrednosÃ…Â¥, premrÅ¡tenosÃ…Â¥ - tá predsa závislý od toho, aká ohrada vás zväzuje.

Se uma planta não pode viver de acordo com sua natureza, ela morre. O mesmo ocorre com um homem.

But, wherever a man goes, men will pursue and paw him with their dirty institutions, and, if they can, constrain him to belong to their desperate odd-fellow society. It

I am wont to think that men are not so much the keepers of herds as herds are the keepers of men, the former are so much the freer.

The surface of the earth is soft and impressible by the feet of men; and so with the paths which the mind travels. How worn and dusty, then, must be the highways of the world, how deep the ruts of tradition and conformity!

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.

Nem arra születtem, hogy kényszert alkalmazzanak velem szemben. Szabadon akarok lélegezni. Hadd lássuk, ki az erÅ'sebb. (…) Engem csak azok kényszeríthetnek valamire, akik valamilyen magasabb törvénynek engedelmeskednek, mint én.

A maior parte das coisas que meus semelhantes consideram boas, creio no fundo da alma que são más, e se de alguma coisa me arrependo é provável que seja do meu bom comportamento. Que diabo se apossou de mim para que me comportasse tão bem?

Io non sono nato per essere costretto. Respirerò liberamente. Vedremo chi è il più forte. Che forza ha una moltitudine? Solo chi risponde a una legge più alta della mia può costringermi a obbedire. Vogliono che diventi come loro. Ma non conosco uomini costretti a vivere in un modo o in un altro da masse di uomini. Che vita sarebbe quella?

A minority is powerless while it conforms to the majority; it is not even a minority then; but it is irresistible when it clogs by its whole weight. If the alternative is to keep all just men in prison, or give up war and slavery, the State will not hesitate which to choose. If a thousand men were not to pay their tax-bills this year, that would not be a violent and bloody measure, as it would be to pay them, and enable the State to commit violence and shed innocent blood.

Others, craven-hearted, said disparagingly, that he threw his life away, because he resisted the government. Which way have they thrown their lives, pray?—Such

One afternoon ... I was seized and put into jail, because ... I did not pay a tax to, or recognize the authority of, the state which buys men, women, and children, like cattle at the door of its senate house. I had gone down to the woods for other purposes. But, wherever a man goes, men will pursue and paw him with their dirty institutions, and, if they can, constrain him to belong to their desperate odd-fellow society.