Neither believe nor reject any thing because any other person, or description of persons have rejected or believed it. Your own reason is the only oracle given you by heaven.
Interpretation
Trust your own reasoning and judgment rather than simply following others' beliefs.
This quote by Thomas Jefferson emphasizes the importance of independent thinking. It urges individuals to make their own decisions based on personal reasoning rather than being swayed by the opinions or beliefs of others, highlighting the value of one's own judgment as the ultimate guide in life.
In practice
During a philosophy class discussion on critical thinking.
The firmness with which the (American) people have withstood the... abuses of the press, the discernment they have manifested between truth and falsehood, show that they may safely be trusted to hear everything true and false and to form a correct judgment between them.
I, place economy among the first & most important republican virtues, & public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared
βWe must make our choice between economy and liberty or confusion and servitude...If we run into such debts, we must be taxed in our meat and drink, in our necessities and comforts, in our labor and in our amusements...if we can prevent the government from wasting the labor of the people, under the pretense of caring for them, they will be happy.
Very many and very meritorious were the worthy patriots who assisted in bringing back our government to its republican tack. To preserve it in that, will require unremitting vigilance.
A nation, as a society, forms a moral person, and every member of it is personally responsible for his society.
Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty.
But better to get hurt by the truth than comforted with a lie.
Here's what I advise any young struggling actress today: The important thing is to develop as a woman first, and a performer second. You wouldn't prostitute yourself to get a part, not if_x000D_ you're in the right mind. You won't be happy, whatever you do, unless you're comfortable with your own conscience.
The rules are simple. Take your work, but never yourself, seriously. Pour in the love and whatever skill you have, and it will come out.
It seems to me, that if people only knew how hard it was for me to endure life, they would find it easier to forgive me for all the wrong things Iβve done and all the good things that I have failed to do. And they would still find a little compassion within them to pity me.
People usually believe anything that they are told early and often.
For life: it is rather a determination not to be overwhelmed. For work: the truth can only be recalled, never invented.
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