Philosophical
and Psychological Foundations of Education
QUOTATIONS BY TOPIC
CONFORMITY
Quotations by Author
Some delinquents, perhaps, in their determination to be themselves at all costs and under terrible conditions have more strength and a greater potential for contributing to the richness of the national life than do many excessively conforming or neurotically defeatist members of their generation, who have given up youth’s prerogatives to dream and to dare. ~ Erik Erikson, Youth and the Life Cycle
The result of never brooding over major issues is likely to be that one follows the crowd. ~ Mark Edmundson, Why Read?, p. 101
The more I examine the work of men in their institutions, the more I see that in seeking independence they make themselves slaves. To avoid being carried away by the torrent of things they form a thousand attachments: then when they try to take a step forward they are surprised to find themselves being held back. ~ Jean Jacques Rousseau, Emile
If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away. ~ Henry David Thoreau
Social psychologists have amply documented that people have a powerful urge to do as their neighbors do. . . . But [they] point out that human conformity . . . has genuine rationale in social life—indeed, two rationales. The first is informational, the desire to benefit from other people's knowledge and judgment. . . . [the second is] normative, the desire to follow the norms of a community, whatever they are. ~ Steven Pinker, The Blank Slate, Chapter 4
We grow accustomed to everything and sooner than we expect. ~ Italo Calvino
I must create a system of my own, says William Blake, or be enslaved by someone else's. Is it a supreise that in his day-to-day life Blake was one of the loneliest of men? ~ Mark Edmundson, Teacher: The One Who Made the Difference, p. 264
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September 19, 2008 4:23 PM