Conformity Quotes

“It is often disturbing to see how even intelligent people do not have straight thinking minds of their own. The pattern of the mind, whether toward conformity and compliance or otherwise, is conditioned rather early in life.”
― Joost A.M. Meerloo, The Rape of the Mind: The Psychology of Thought Control, Menticide, and Brainwashing

“Do you have an opinion or did you just become everyone else?”
― Karl Kristian Flores, The Goodbye Song

“What an important lesson for every young person to learn: If you defy the collective psychosis of nationalism, of imperial war, you will pay for it. And the people in your community, your home, who you thought knew and loves you, will be the ones to collect the debt.”
― Stephen Markley, Ohio

“Conformity is usually beneficial to society, but is often detrimental to individuality.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

“They are, in fact, like nothing but themselves. They are the crowns of five white spruces laden with cones, bending in the wind as they do every day of their existence. Likeness is the sole problem of men.”
― Richard Powers, The Overstory

“The free man knows people don’t ask for him. They ask for things: work, your hands – never you.”
― Karl Kristian Flores, The Goodbye Song

“Exaggeration is another way of saying you’re afraid someone won’t listen to the truth. But the truth’s enough, Laramie. We never know that because we never dare to speak it. Look at how we talk. Or text, in all caps. Thumbs stuck on CAPS lock because we’re scared they won’t get the idea. The media. Everyone begs to be interesting. And questioning what people have always questioned is suddenly an “existential crisis.” And we’re so numb to it. Laughing is called “dying.” Any brief moment of sadness is called “crying.” A great moment is called "iconic." We call our boyfriends and girlfriends our ‘kings’ and ‘queens.’ Who can measure up to that? All of these words, it’s impatient and rudimentary. We are desensitized, Laramie. As if it’s the internet’s information overload that causes us to dramatize our opinions.”
― Karl Kristian Flores, The Goodbye Song

“A man conforms to his situation, or it conforms to him. A strong and inspirational man does the latter...”
― Connor Monaghan

“Those who think little, tend to be those who think exactly alike.”
― J.S. Felts, Ageless Wisdom: A Treasury of Quotes to Motivate & Inspire

“El positivismo propio de la civilización occidental ha producido, sin duda, muchos y notables progresos, pero al final no ha producido sino una sociedad profundamente insatisfecha, conformada por gente profundamente infeliz.”
― Natsume Sōseki, I Am a Cat

“Society must adapt to diamonds, diamonds don't adapt to society.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Karadeniz Chronicle: The Novel

“Most people are tormented by the conflict between their fear of standing out and their desire to be the center of attention.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

“Like MacMillan and the clique of teachers and the coaches who all went to the same church and barbecued at one another's houses, much of the country's small-bore civil servants were itching to do some repressing of their own. Millions of Dick Cheney wannabes swelling the ranks, enjoying their little authoritarian fiefdoms.”
― Stephen Markley, Ohio

“When belonging is weaponized to coerce conformity and submission it ceases to be belonging at all, corrupting any hope of true community.”
― Jamie Arpin-Ricci

“Better die a daring reformer than a cowardly conformer.”
― Abhijit Naskar, The Shape of A Human: Our America Their America

“Don't compromise your cause to adjust with society, persist on your cause and the society will correct itself to adjust to you.”
― Abhijit Naskar, When Veins Ignite: Either Integration or Degradation

“You want to fly, I say break your chains first.”
― Abhijit Naskar, When Veins Ignite: Either Integration or Degradation

“He was going to suck my blood!”
“Which is what we do to anyone when we say we’ll be hurt if they don’t live our way.”
― Richard Bach, Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah

“Perhaps the most important thing in this life unamazing
Is that you dance to a different song than the current one that’s playing.”
― Karl Kristian Flores, The Goodbye Song

“Vocabulary is a systematic result of what other people paid for you to have and because people consume the first thing they see, they can’t think for themselves and are puppetted by corporations who make money off what you think is free, when it’s actually costing the precious rarity of your existence.”
― Karl Kristian Flores, The Goodbye Song

“Does age constitute maturity or an accumulation of observations? If you look at your phone all day and you’re 40 and the 22-year-old for all their life has roamed life hands-free, who has lived longer? Why measure age when you can measure the development and streak of your consciousness?

How often are you in control? Not because you’re controlling a phone— because really you’re just receiving stimuli and algorithms control you. How often do you think? I miss the time where the high seats playing God in their big offices were scared of the person who thinks. But they’re not anymore. Because they already won. The threat died. No one thinks.”
― Karl Kristian Flores, The Goodbye Song

“We [vowed religious; nuns, monks] want to be squares, and we want others to be square, also. That's what religious have been doing. They're part of a square society. And let me be quite clear about the fact that liberalism doesn't get you off this hook, because liberals are part of the square society, too. It's better to be a liberal than a conservative, but they're both equally square.”
― Thomas Merton, Thomas Merton on Prayer

“I wanted to be a good girl, so I tried to control myself. I chose a personality, a body, a faith, and a sexuality so tiny I had to hold my breath to fit myself inside.”
― Glennon Doyle, Untamed

“The common mob, the philistines and money changers, are 'flies in the market-place'. Then, as the Outsider's insight becomes deeper, so that he no longer sees men as a million million individuals, but instead sees the world-will that drives them all like ants in a formicary, he knows that they will never escape their stupidity and delusions, that no amount of logic and knowledge can make man any more than an insect; the most irritating of the human lice is the humanist with his puffed-up pride in Reason and his ignorance of his own silliness.”
― Colin Wilson, The Outsider

“Sometimes you’ll find yourself needing to conform for the simple reason the conformists are right.”
― J.S. Felts, Ageless Wisdom: A Treasury of Quotes to Motivate & Inspire

“We are taught from the time we are born about how to behave, how to look and how to act. Comply and do not question! The path is already set for you, as long as you stay on it you will make it.”
― Vijay Ramakrishnan, Between the Mountains and the Sea

“It is a true act of insanity to expect others to believe in the same ideals. One person’s vision of utopia will be another’s version of Hell. I believed that if I gave my writing to a corporation to publish was attune to having my soul ripped out and leaving me a lifeless husk. However, working for an insurance company with no hope for my future was the rebellious act of a petulant child. Sometimes the things that we truly believe in are the things that are drowning us.”
― Paul S. Anderson

“A smile is a confusing thing. It is an inviting facial expression; yet, it can be easily faked. However, it is better to walk this world with a fake smile than an expressionless face that is real. In childhood, even into early adulthood, you can get away with giving the world the finger. It’s cute in the eyes of the grown up world. Adulthood really starts when you bottle up that middle finger and put on that fake smile to pass through the world in between the other fake smiles. I knew I could never do that. I had to find another way.”
― Paul S. Anderson

“I had lost the anonymity that came from conformity.”
― Ranjani Rao, Rewriting My Happily Ever After - A Memoir of Divorce and Discovery

“The common denominator between all my cartoons is rebellion against blind conformity.

(From 2004 in berkeleydailyplanet)”
― Khalil Bendib