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. Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent. If I could not go to heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all. Thomas Jefferson
About This Quote

This quote from Thomas Paine is a call to resist all forms of groupthink and to make your own decisions based on your personal beliefs. In his time, Paine was fighting against the idea that the government should have a monopoly on truth and that the truth only comes from the government. People have a right to their own opinions, and they have a right to voice them in whatever manner they choose.

Some Similar Quotes
  1. Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job. - Douglas Adams
  2. Politics determines who has the power, not who has the truth. - Paul Krugman
  3. Immer wieder behauptete Unwahrheiten werden nicht zu Wahrheiten, sondern, was schlimmer ist, zu Gewohnheiten. - Oliver Hassencamp
  4. What people want, mainly, is to be told by some plausible authority that what they are already doing is right. I don't know know of a quicker way to become unpopular than to disagree. - John Brunner
  5. A people religiously right, will not long remain politically wrong. - William Arnot
More Quotes By Thomas Jefferson
  1. I had rather be shut up in a very modest cottage with my books, my family and a few old friends, dining on simple bacon, and letting the world roll on as it liked, than to occupy the most splendid post, which any human power...
  2. Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of Liberty.
  3. Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time, who never loses any. It is wonderful how much may be done, if we are always doing.
  4. The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.
  5. There is nothing more unequal than the equal treatment of unequal people.
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