{ "type": "topic", "site": { "name": "Leafy Quotes", "language": "en", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com" }, "formats": "Every page has two versions with the same data: JSON (the page address + .json) and markdown (the page address + .md). Append .json or .md to any `url` in this document.", "name": "authority figures", "slug": "authority-figures", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/authority-figures", "heading": "Quotes about authority figures", "json": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/authority-figures.json", "markdown": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/authority-figures.md", "quotes_count": 26, "authors_count": 21, "parent": { "name": "relationships", "slug": "relationships", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/relationships", "heading": "Quotes about relationships" }, "children": [], "quotes": [ { "id": "817b078e-a681-4ade-8045-695643014ffa", "slug": "be-the-person", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nedra-glover-tawwab/drama-free/be-the-person", "text": "Be the person you would have looked up to in childhood.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Nedra Glover Tawwab", "slug": "nedra-glover-tawwab", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nedra-glover-tawwab" }, "book": { "title": "Drama Free", "slug": "drama-free", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nedra-glover-tawwab/drama-free" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "childhood", "slug": "childhood", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/childhood" }, { "name": "authority figures", "slug": "authority-figures", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/authority-figures" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nedra_Glover_Tawwab#Drama_Free:_A_Guide_to_Managing_Unhealthy_Family_Relationships_(2023)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:59" }, { "id": "e0b437a5-84a1-40f9-8732-285bcaefb089", "slug": "many-xpert-witnesses", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-mitchell/cloud-atlas/many-xpert-witnesses", "text": "Many xpert witnesses at. our trial denied Declarations could be the work of a fabricant, ascended or otherwise, and maintained it was ghosted by Union or a pureblood Abolitionst. How lazily \"xperts\" dismiss what they fail to understand!", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "David Mitchell", "slug": "david-mitchell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-mitchell" }, "book": { "title": "Cloud Atlas", "slug": "cloud-atlas", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-mitchell/cloud-atlas" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 346, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "ignorance", "slug": "ignorance", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/ignorance" }, { "name": "authority figures", "slug": "authority-figures", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/authority-figures" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cloud_Atlas_(novel)#An_Orison_of_Sonmi~451_(Part_2)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:03:57" }, { "id": "18c2c8a7-69fe-4669-a539-e5a386127880", "slug": "a-revolution-is-nothing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alexandre-kojeve/the-notion-of-authority/a-revolution-is-nothing", "text": "A Revolution is nothing other than the replacement of one given type of Authority with another.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Alexandre Kojève", "slug": "alexandre-kojeve", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alexandre-kojeve" }, "book": { "title": "The Notion of Authority", "slug": "the-notion-of-authority", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alexandre-kojeve/the-notion-of-authority" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 103, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "power", "slug": "power", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/power" }, { "name": "revolution", "slug": "revolution", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/revolution" }, { "name": "authority figures", "slug": "authority-figures", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/authority-figures" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alexandre_Koj%C3%A8ve#The_Notion_of_Authority_(2020)_%5B1942%5D", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:03:37" }, { "id": "6127510f-291c-4bdc-9588-90d9a0b8d89e", "slug": "respect-for-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-kitcher/abusing-science/respect-for-the", "text": "Respect for the truth does not require one to take seriously ideas simply because they are popular or backed by influential people. Once it has become clear that a proposal makes no contribution to our understanding, we are not compelled by tolerance to give it further attention.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Philip Kitcher", "slug": "philip-kitcher", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-kitcher" }, "book": { "title": "Abusing Science", "slug": "abusing-science", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-kitcher/abusing-science" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 168, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "truth", "slug": "truth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/truth" }, { "name": "tolerance", "slug": "tolerance", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/tolerance" }, { "name": "authority figures", "slug": "authority-figures", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/authority-figures" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Philip_Kitcher#Abusing_Science:_The_Case_Against_Creationism_(1982)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:03:26" }, { "id": "6b6f61b5-5e6b-4bee-a94f-c1cf1ec896f2", "slug": "experts-must-read", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/dean-koontz/the-good-guy/experts-must-read", "text": "Experts must read the patterns and judge their usefulness as evidence. Under any of numerous pressures, an expert may wish to misread a pattern or even to alter it. Americans had a touching trust in \"experts\".", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Dean Koontz", "slug": "dean-koontz", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/dean-koontz" }, "book": { "title": "The Good Guy", "slug": "the-good-guy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/dean-koontz/the-good-guy" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 147, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "authority figures", "slug": "authority-figures", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/authority-figures" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dean_Koontz#The_Good_Guy_(2007)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:30" }, { "id": "ce6fa8d4-e1e5-405d-84c3-c17708cf6e96", "slug": "to-a-visitor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anthony-de-mello/one-minute-wisdom/to-a-visitor", "text": "To a visitor who asked to become his disciple the Master said, \"You may live with me, but don't become my follower.\" \"Whom, then, shall I follow?\" \"No one. The day you follow someone you cease to follow Truth.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Anthony De Mello", "slug": "anthony-de-mello", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anthony-de-mello" }, "book": { "title": "One Minute Wisdom", "slug": "one-minute-wisdom", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anthony-de-mello/one-minute-wisdom" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "truth", "slug": "truth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/truth" }, { "name": "authority figures", "slug": "authority-figures", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/authority-figures" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anthony_de_Mello#One_Minute_Wisdom_(1989)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:44:47" }, { "id": "330eb3ff-78c9-4658-8573-1d323f6aae9b", "slug": "llita-was-well", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein/time-enough-for-love/llita-was-well", "text": "Llita was well above average smart but suffered from the democratic fallacy: the notion that her opinion was as good as anyone’s — while Joe suffered from the aristocratic fallacy: He accepted the notion of authority in opinion.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Robert A. Heinlein", "slug": "robert-a-heinlein", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein" }, "book": { "title": "Time Enough For Love", "slug": "time-enough-for-love", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein/time-enough-for-love" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 225, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "democracy", "slug": "democracy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/democracy" }, { "name": "authority figures", "slug": "authority-figures", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/authority-figures" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Time_Enough_for_Love#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:44:00" }, { "id": "b79541df-276c-41cf-ae9c-92618070074c", "slug": "there-are-but", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein/the-past-through-tomorrow/there-are-but", "text": "There are but two ways of forming an opinion in science. One is the scientific method; the other, the scholastic. One can judge from experiment, or one can blindly accept authority. To the scientific mind, experimental proof is all important and theory is merely a convenience in description, to be junked when it no longer fits. To the academic mind, authority is everything and facts are junked when they do not fit theory laid down by authority.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Robert A. Heinlein", "slug": "robert-a-heinlein", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein" }, "book": { "title": "The Past Through Tomorrow", "slug": "the-past-through-tomorrow", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein/the-past-through-tomorrow" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 24, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "science", "slug": "science", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/science" }, { "name": "authority figures", "slug": "authority-figures", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/authority-figures" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_A._Heinlein#The_Past_Through_Tomorrow_(1967)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:55" }, { "id": "86d1569c-d89d-4c14-895c-18a67d1cc440", "slug": "the-misconception-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-deutsch/the-beginning-of-infinity/the-misconception-that", "text": "The misconception that knowledge needs authority to be genuine or reliable dates back to antiquity, and it still prevails. To this day, most courses in the philosophy of knowledge teach that knowledge is some form of justified, true belief, where ‘justified’ means designated as true (or at least ‘probable’) by reference to some authoritative source or touchstone of knowledge.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "David Deutsch", "slug": "david-deutsch", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-deutsch" }, "book": { "title": "The Beginning of Infinity", "slug": "the-beginning-of-infinity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-deutsch/the-beginning-of-infinity" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "knowledge", "slug": "knowledge", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/knowledge" }, { "name": "authority figures", "slug": "authority-figures", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/authority-figures" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Deutsch#The_Beginning_of_Infinity_(2011)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:52" }, { "id": "1585edf7-5160-4d17-acd9-50beced6d132", "slug": "the-interpretation-of-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-hobbes/leviathan/the-interpretation-of-the", "text": "The Interpretation of the Laws of Nature in a Common-wealth, dependeth not on the books of Moral Philosophy. The Authority of writers, without the Authority of the Commonwealth, maketh not their opinions Law, be they never so true.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Thomas Hobbes", "slug": "thomas-hobbes", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-hobbes" }, "book": { "title": "Leviathan", "slug": "leviathan", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-hobbes/leviathan" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 143, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "law", "slug": "law", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/law" }, { "name": "authority figures", "slug": "authority-figures", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/authority-figures" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Hobbes#Chapter_26", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:48" }, { "id": "a281255c-c4ae-4d88-bcc8-d07ed47b73f3", "slug": "one-cannot-assert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb/the-black-swan/one-cannot-assert", "text": "One cannot assert authority by accepting one's own fallibility. Simply, people need to be blinded by knowledge - we are made to follow leaders who can gather people together because the advantages of being in groups trump the disadvantages of being alone. It has been more profitable for us to bind together in the wrong direction than to be alone in the right one. Those who have followed the assertive idiot rather than the introspective wise person have passed us some of their genes. This is apparent from a social pathology: psychopaths rally followers.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Nassim Nicholas Taleb", "slug": "nassim-nicholas-taleb", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb" }, "book": { "title": "The Black Swan", "slug": "the-black-swan", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb/the-black-swan" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 192, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "leadership", "slug": "leadership", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/leadership" }, { "name": "authority figures", "slug": "authority-figures", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/authority-figures" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nassim_Nicholas_Taleb#The_Black_Swan:_The_Impact_of_the_Highly_Improbable_(2007)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:31" }, { "id": "de8f24cc-3190-47e3-a351-8cc13f7b43b8", "slug": "surely-just-about", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/daniel-dennett/breaking-the-spell/surely-just-about", "text": "Surely just about everybody has faced a moral dilemma and secretly wished, \"If only somebody — somebody I trusted — could just tell me what to do!\" Wouldn't this be morally inauthentic? Aren't we responsible for making our own moral decisions? Yes, but the virtues of \"do it yourself\" moral reasoning have their limits, and if you decide, after conscientious consideration, that your moral decision is to delegate further moral decisions in your life to a trusted expert, then you have made your own moral decision. You have decided to take advantage of the division of labor that civilization makes possible and get the help of expert specialists.We applaud the wisdom of this course in all other important areas of decision-making (don't try to be your own doctor, the lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client, and so forth). Even in the case of political decisions, like which way to vote, the policy of delegation can be defended. … Is the a dereliction of [one's] dut[y] as a citizen? I don't think so, but it does depend on my having good grounds for trusting [the delegate's] judgment. … That why those who have an unquestioning faith in the correctness of the moral teachings of their religion are a problem: if they themselves haven't conscientiously considered, on their own, whether their pastors or priests or rabbis or imams are worthy of this delegated authority over their own lives, then they are in fact taking a personally immoral stand.This is perhaps the most shocking implication of my inquiry, and I do not shrink from it, even though it may offend many who think of themselves as deeply moral. It is commonly supposed that it is entirely exemplary to adopt the moral teachings of one's own religion without question, because -- to put it simply — it is the word of God (as interpreted, always, by the specialists to whom one has delegated authority). I am urging, on the contrary, that anybody who professes that a particular point of moral conviction is not discussable, not debatable, not negotiable, simply because it is the word of God, or because the Bible says so, or because \"that is what all Muslims [Hindus, Sikhs ...] [sic] believe, and I am a Muslim [Hindu, Sikh ...]\" [sic], should be seen to be making it impossible for the rest of us to take their views seriously, excusing themselves from the moral conversation, inadvertently acknowledging that their own views are not conscientiously maintained and deserve no further hearing.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Daniel Dennett", "slug": "daniel-dennett", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/daniel-dennett" }, "book": { "title": "Breaking the Spell", "slug": "breaking-the-spell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/daniel-dennett/breaking-the-spell" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "religion", "slug": "religion", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/religion" }, { "name": "morality", "slug": "morality", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/morality" }, { "name": "authority figures", "slug": "authority-figures", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/authority-figures" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Daniel_Dennett#Breaking_the_Spell_(2006)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:30" }, { "id": "6d5c4676-4237-487d-b791-afc6a7676193", "slug": "i-was-ordained", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/seventh-son/i-was-ordained", "text": "“I was ordained,” said the preacher. “No one ordains artists. They ordain themselves.” Just as Taleswapper had expected. The preacher retreated to authority as soon as he feared his ideas could not stand on their own merit. Reasonable argument was impossible when authority became the arbiter.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Orson Scott Card", "slug": "orson-scott-card", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card" }, "book": { "title": "Seventh Son", "slug": "seventh-son", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/seventh-son" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "reason", "slug": "reason", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/reason" }, { "name": "authority figures", "slug": "authority-figures", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/authority-figures" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Orson_Scott_Card#Seventh_Son_(1987)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:11" }, { "id": "8da815ee-c38f-4093-bedb-0c8d06b92cdb", "slug": "a-journalist-has", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk/haunted/a-journalist-has", "text": "\"A journalist has a right... ...and a duty, to destroy the golden calves he helps create.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Chuck Palahniuk", "slug": "chuck-palahniuk", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk" }, "book": { "title": "Haunted", "slug": "haunted", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk/haunted" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "authority figures", "slug": "authority-figures", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/authority-figures" }, { "name": "journalism", "slug": "journalism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/journalism" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Chuck_Palahniuk#Haunted_(2005)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:59" }, { "id": "015e84c8-ebc9-447c-a69b-5f60ab957947", "slug": "i-f-the-majority", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-journals-of-ayn-rand/i-f-the-majority", "text": "[I]f the majority of men cannot know what is good for them, each for himself, how can they know what is good for others by proxy? If they are to be controlled by specialists, how and by what standard can they choose the specialist?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ayn Rand", "slug": "ayn-rand", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand" }, "book": { "title": "The Journals of Ayn Rand", "slug": "the-journals-of-ayn-rand", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-journals-of-ayn-rand" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "democracy", "slug": "democracy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/democracy" }, { "name": "authority figures", "slug": "authority-figures", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/authority-figures" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ayn_Rand#Journals_of_Ayn_Rand_(1997)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:54" }, { "id": "5f3e54be-85c5-403d-b47c-e4d6bf43f7b0", "slug": "people-like-your", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-k-dick/eye-in-the-sky/people-like-your", "text": "“People like your wife are dangerous.” “Why?” Hamilton asked. “They don’t belong to any group. They fool around with everything. As soon as we turn our back—” “So you destroy them. You turn them over to the lunatic patriots.” “The lunatic patriots,” McFeyffe said, “we can understand. But not your wife. She signs Party peace petitions and she reads the Chicago Tribune. People like her—they’re more of a menace to Party discipline than any other bunch. The cult of individualism. The idealist with his own law, his own ethics. Refusing to accept authority. It undermines society. It topples the whole structure. Nothing lasting can be built on it. People like your wife just won’t take orders.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Philip K. Dick", "slug": "philip-k-dick", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-k-dick" }, "book": { "title": "Eye In The Sky", "slug": "eye-in-the-sky", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-k-dick/eye-in-the-sky" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 231, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "individualism", "slug": "individualism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/individualism" }, { "name": "authority figures", "slug": "authority-figures", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/authority-figures" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Philip_K._Dick#Eye_in_the_Sky_(1957)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:03" }, { "id": "f4d11a90-6a7d-4d35-b1df-c4438b391029", "slug": "ill-never-make", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-p-feynman/surely-youre-joking-mr-feynman/ill-never-make", "text": "I'll never make that mistake again, reading the experts' opinions. Of course, you only live one life, and you make all your mistakes, and learn what not to do, and that's the end of you.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Richard P. Feynman", "slug": "richard-p-feynman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-p-feynman" }, "book": { "title": "Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman", "slug": "surely-youre-joking-mr-feynman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-p-feynman/surely-youre-joking-mr-feynman" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 255, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "mistakes", "slug": "mistakes", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mistakes" }, { "name": "authority figures", "slug": "authority-figures", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/authority-figures" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Feynman#Surely_You're_Joking,_Mr._Feynman!_(1985)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:00" }, { "id": "e464ab2f-5721-45a8-9eca-1d1253ab9a7f", "slug": "since-then-i-never", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-p-feynman/surely-youre-joking-mr-feynman/since-then-i-never", "text": "Since then I never pay attention to anything by \"experts\". I calculate everything myself.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Richard P. Feynman", "slug": "richard-p-feynman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-p-feynman" }, "book": { "title": "Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman", "slug": "surely-youre-joking-mr-feynman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-p-feynman/surely-youre-joking-mr-feynman" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 255, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "authority figures", "slug": "authority-figures", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/authority-figures" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Feynman#Surely_You're_Joking,_Mr._Feynman!_(1985)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:00" }, { "id": "c9f908c9-01a6-4d56-b4e1-35f6c30a8556", "slug": "doubting-the-great", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-p-feynman/what-do-you-care-what-other-people-think/doubting-the-great", "text": "Doubting the great Descartes ... was a reaction I learned from my father: Have no respect whatsoever for authority; forget who said it and instead look what he starts with, where he ends up, and ask yourself, \"Is it reasonable?\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Richard P. Feynman", "slug": "richard-p-feynman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-p-feynman" }, "book": { "title": "'What Do You Care What Other People Think?'", "slug": "what-do-you-care-what-other-people-think", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-p-feynman/what-do-you-care-what-other-people-think" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 28, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "father", "slug": "father", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/father" }, { "name": "skepticism", "slug": "skepticism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/skepticism" }, { "name": "authority figures", "slug": "authority-figures", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/authority-figures" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Feynman#What_Do_You_Care_What_Other_People_Think%3F_(1988)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:00" }, { "id": "cf965997-b2f4-4788-970b-463c46178476", "slug": "quality-is-better", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-m-pirsig/zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance/quality-is-better", "text": "Quality is better seen up at the timberline than here obscured by smoky windows and oceans of words, and he sees that what he is talking about can never really be accepted here because to see it one has to be free from social authority and this is an institution of social authority. Quality for sheep is what the shepherd says. And if you take a sheep and put it up at the timberline at night when the wind is roaring, that sheep will be panicked half to death and will call and call until the shepherd comes, or comes the wolf.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Robert M. Pirsig", "slug": "robert-m-pirsig", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-m-pirsig" }, "book": { "title": "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance", "slug": "zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-m-pirsig/zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "conformity", "slug": "conformity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/conformity" }, { "name": "authority figures", "slug": "authority-figures", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/authority-figures" }, { "name": "quality", "slug": "quality", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/quality" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_M._Pirsig#Zen_and_the_Art_of_Motorcycle_Maintenance_(1974)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:34" }, { "id": "4a7bede5-812a-4325-b5c3-cfd2f998ffa3", "slug": "education-on-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan/the-demon-haunted-world/education-on-the", "text": "Education on the value of free speech and the other freedoms reserved by the Bill of Rights, about what happens when you don't have them, and about how to exercise and protect them, should be an essential prerequisite for being an American citizen — or indeed a citizen of any nation, the more so to the degree that such rights remain unprotected. If we can't think for ourselves, if we're unwilling to question authority, then we're just putty in the hands of those in power. But if the citizens are educated and form their own opinions, then those in power work for us. In every country, we should be teaching our children the scientific method and the reasons for a Bill of Rights. With it comes a certain decency, humility and community spirit. In the demon-haunted world that we inhabit by virtue of being human, this may be all that stands between us and the enveloping darkness.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Carl Sagan", "slug": "carl-sagan", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan" }, "book": { "title": "The Demon-Haunted World", "slug": "the-demon-haunted-world", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan/the-demon-haunted-world" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "freedom", "slug": "freedom", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/freedom" }, { "name": "education", "slug": "education", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/education" }, { "name": "authority figures", "slug": "authority-figures", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/authority-figures" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carl_Sagan#The_Demon-Haunted_World_:_Science_as_a_Candle_in_the_Dark_(1995)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:29" }, { "id": "16021af5-045f-4077-b965-b86e954f4261", "slug": "there-is-no-other", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan/cosmos/there-is-no-other", "text": "There is no other species on the Earth that does science. It is, so far, entirely a human invention, evolved by natural selection in the cerebral cortex for one simple reason: it works. It is not perfect. It can be misused. It is only a tool. But it is by far the best tool we have, self-correcting, ongoing, applicable to everything. It has two rules. First: there are no sacred truths; all assumptions must be critically examined; arguments from authority are worthless. Second: whatever is inconsistent with the facts must be discarded or revised. We must understand the Cosmos as it is and not confuse how it is with how we wish it to be.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Carl Sagan", "slug": "carl-sagan", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan" }, "book": { "title": "Cosmos", "slug": "cosmos", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan/cosmos" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 333, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "science", "slug": "science", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/science" }, { "name": "skepticism", "slug": "skepticism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/skepticism" }, { "name": "authority figures", "slug": "authority-figures", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/authority-figures" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carl_Sagan#Cosmos_(1980)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:27" }, { "id": "79f261be-8794-442e-bec1-ca2457bd4726", "slug": "scientists-like-other", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan/brocas-brain/scientists-like-other", "text": "Scientists, like other human beings, have their hopes and fears, their passions and despondencies—and their strong emotions may sometimes interrupt the course of clear thinking and sound practice. But science is also self-correcting. The most fundamental axioms and conclusions may be challenged. The prevailing hypotheses must survive confrontation with observation. Appeals to authority are impermissible. The steps in a reasoned argument must be set out for all to see. Experiments must be reproducible. The history of science is full of cases where previously accepted theories and hypotheses have been entirely overthrown, to be replaced by new ideas that more adequately explain the data. While there is an understandable psychological inertia—usually lasting about one generation—such revolutions in scientific thought are widely accepted as a necessary and desirable element of scientific progress. Indeed, the reasoned criticism of a prevailing belief is a service to the proponents of that belief; if they are incapable of defending it, they are well advised to abandon it. This self-questioning and error-correcting aspect of the scientific method is its most striking property, and sets it off from many other areas of human endeavor where credulity is the rule.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Carl Sagan", "slug": "carl-sagan", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan" }, "book": { "title": "Broca's Brain", "slug": "brocas-brain", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan/brocas-brain" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 96, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "science", "slug": "science", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/science" }, { "name": "skepticism", "slug": "skepticism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/skepticism" }, { "name": "authority figures", "slug": "authority-figures", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/authority-figures" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carl_Sagan#Broca's_Brain_(1979)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:26" }, { "id": "40f7f249-aff3-4bc5-844f-e4a76269aa70", "slug": "but-so-engrained", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-butler/erewhon/but-so-engrained", "text": "But so engrained in the human heart is the desire to believe that some people really do know what they say they know, and can thus save them from the trouble of thinking for themselves, that in a short time would-be philosophers and faddists became more powerful than ever, and gradually led their countrymen to accept all those absurd views of life.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Samuel Butler", "slug": "samuel-butler", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-butler" }, "book": { "title": "Erewhon", "slug": "erewhon", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-butler/erewhon" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "thinking", "slug": "thinking", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/thinking" }, { "name": "authority figures", "slug": "authority-figures", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/authority-figures" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_Butler_(novelist)#Erewhon_(1872)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:53" }, { "id": "340a03bd-e50f-4f45-8601-199b175f3f53", "slug": "i-do-not", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham/the-summing-up/i-do-not", "text": "I do not believe they are right who say that the defects of famous men should be ignored. I think it is better that we should know them. Then, though we are conscious of having faults as glaring as theirs, we can believe that that is no hindrance to our achieving also something of their virtues.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "William Somerset Maugham", "slug": "william-somerset-maugham", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham" }, "book": { "title": "The Summing Up", "slug": "the-summing-up", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham/the-summing-up" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 71, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "flaws", "slug": "flaws", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/flaws" }, { "name": "authority figures", "slug": "authority-figures", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/authority-figures" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/W._Somerset_Maugham#The_Summing_Up_(1938)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:27" }, { "id": "5473796a-ff29-48e0-ab0d-70a2b88af56e", "slug": "this-return-of-republics", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/niccolo-machiavelli/discourses-on-livy/this-return-of-republics", "text": "This return of Republics back to their principles also results from the simple virtue of one man, without depending on any law that excites him to any execution: none the less, they are of such influence and example that good men desire to imitate him, and the wicked are ashamed to lead a life contrary to those examples.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Niccolo Machiavelli", "slug": "niccolo-machiavelli", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/niccolo-machiavelli" }, "book": { "title": "Discourses on Livy", "slug": "discourses-on-livy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/niccolo-machiavelli/discourses-on-livy" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "authority figures", "slug": "authority-figures", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/authority-figures" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Niccol%C3%B2_Machiavelli#Discourses_on_Livy_(1517)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:24" } ] }