Quotes About Nonconformity

I don't care about being a literary personality - that doesn't appeal to me, especially because the literary world doesn't appeal to me. I actually don't feel like I even belong in it. If this was high school, I would be sitting with the Goths, looking at everyone, being like, 'Whatever.'

He'd just nod politely and then do exactly what he wanted

Everett was strange," Sleight concedes. "Kind of different. But him and McCandless, at least they tried to follow their dream. That's what was great about them. They tried. Not many do.

Everett was strange,' Sleight concedes. 'Kind of different. But him and McCandless, at least they tried to follow their dream. That's what was great about them. They tried. Not many do.

But some things in life are more important than being happy. Like being free to think for yourself.

drawn to a pursuit considered reckless by his elders;

I am not a Federalist, because I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever in religion, in philosophy, in politics, or in anything else where I was capable of thinking for myself

Don't ever try to be normal because it's the first symptom of a terminal disease. As soon as you feel the need to be normal coming on, get the antidote. ... Just make sure you're living your life; don't let normal pretend to be you.

You laugh at me because I'm different, I laugh at you because you're all the same.

You laugh at me becuse I am different. I laugh at you becuse your all the same.

You laugh at me because I'm different, I laugh at you cause you're all the same.

The surest defense against Evil is extreme individualism, originality of thinking, whimsicality, even — if you will — eccentricity. That is, something that can't be feigned, faked, imitated; something even a seasoned impostor couldn't be happy with. Something, in other words, that can't be shared, like your own skin — not even by a minority.

I don't know about you,but I'm sick of good poems, all those little ronduressplendidly brought off, painted gourds on a shelf.

You measure democracy by the freedom it gives its dissidents, not the freedom it gives its assimilated conformists.

From an early age I didn't buy into the value systems of working hard in a nine-to-five job. I thought creativity, friendship and loyalty and pushing the boundaries of what was acceptable was much more interesting.

Original thinkers doubt the default.

Psychologists discovered that there are two routes to achievement: conformity and originality. Conformity means following the crowd down conventional paths and maintaining the status quo. Originality is taking the road less traveled, championing a set of novel ideas that go against the grain but ultimately make things better.

In this world is not the creative act of the genius always a protest against the inertia of the mass?

Be not afraid of being called un-fashionable.

I always feel like I want to do my career my own way. I never follow anybody's path, what they've done.

I never follow anybody's path, what they've done.

For me, I actually found that it would have been more frightening to take the conventional path.

I've never been the sort of guy who wants to emulate this guy or that guy. I just try to forge my own path.

I never set out to be rich and famous. I wanted to follow my own path.