Mastodawn

Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.

Frank Zappa (1940-1993) American singer-songwriter
A Day with Frank Zappa, Part 5, documentary, dir. Roelof Kiers, VPRO-TV (1971-02-11)

More about this quote (and variants): wist.info/zappa-frank/4263/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #zappa #frankzappa #change #convention #deviance #deviation #heterodoxy #LGBTQ #norm #normalcy #orientation #orthodoxy #progress #sexuality #statusquo #variation #diversity #meme

WIST Quotations Dec 27

A quotation from La Rochefoucauld

It is generally pride rather than lack of intelligence which prompts men to dispute so obstinately generally accepted opinions; they find all the front seats taken on the popular side, and do not wish to sit behind.

[C’est plus souvent par orgueil que par défaut de lumières qu’on s’oppose avec tant d’opiniâtreté aux opinions les plus suivies: on trouve les premières places prises dans le bon parti, et on ne veut point des dernières.]

François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶234 (1665-1678) [tr. Stevens (1939)]

More info about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/la-rochefoucauld-fra…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #larochefoucauld #attention #selfaggrandizement #attentionseeking #bigfish #contrariness #ego #heterodoxy #obstinacy #pride #selfglorification #selfpromotion #selfrighteousness #popularopinion

La Rochefoucauld, Francois - Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶234 (1665-1678) [tr. Stevens (1939)] | WIST Quotations

WIST Quotations

WIST Quotations Dec 22

A quotation from Henry Commager

We do not protect freedom in order to indulge error. We protect freedom in order to discover truth. We do not maintain freedom in order to permit eccentricity to flourish; we maintain freedom in order that society may profit from criticism, even eccentric criticism. We do not encourage dissent for sentimental reasons; we encourage dissent because we cannot live without it.

Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998) American historian, writer, activist
Essay (1954), “The Necessity of Freedom,” Freedom, Loyalty, Dissent

More about this quote: wist.info/commager-henry-steel…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #henrycommager #criticism #dissent #eccentricity #error #freedom #heterodoxy #investigation #test #truth

Essay (1954), "The Necessity of Freedom," Freedom, Loyalty, Dissent - Commager, Henry Steele | WIST Quotations

WIST Quotations

WIST Quotations Has Moved!Nov 8

A quotation from Charles Evans Hughes

When we lose the right to be different, we lose the privilege to be free.

Charles Evans Hughes, Sr. (1862-1948) American statesman, politician, Supreme Court Justice (1910-1916, 1930-1941)
Speech (1925-06-17), Battle of Bunker Hill 150th Anniversary, Faneuil Hall, Boston Massachusetts

More about this quote: wist.info/hughes-charles-evans…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #charlesevanshughes #coexistence #difference #freedom #heterodoxy #liberty #tolerance #variation #nonconformity

Speech (1925-06-17), Battle of Bunker Hill 150th Anniversary, Faneuil Hall, Boston Massachusetts - Hughes, Charles Evans | WIST Quotations

When we lose the right to be different, we lose the privilege to be free. Sometimes misquoted, "... the right to be free." When we lose the right to be different, we lose the right to be free.

WIST Quotations

WIST Quotations Has Moved!Oct 27

A quotation from Henry Commager

A nation that silences or intimidates original minds is left only with unoriginal minds and cannot hope to hold its own in the competition of peace or of war.

Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998) American historian, writer, activist
Essay (1953-02-21), “Is Freedom Really Necessary?” Saturday Review

More info about this quote: wist.info/commager-henry-steel…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #henrycommager #competition #deviation #heterodoxy #imagination #innovation #intimidation #originality #peace #suppression #war

Essay (1953-02-21), “Is Freedom Really Necessary?” Saturday Review - Commager, Henry Steele | WIST Quotations

A nation that silences or intimidates original minds is left only with unoriginal minds and cannot hope to hold its own in the competition of peace or of war. Based on a discussion by the American Round Table, New York City (1951). Collected as "Free Enterprise in Ideas," Freedom, Loyalty…

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pdb Oct 12

‘[I]t is unhelpful to try and reduce the depth of human experience to any singular phenomenon … . Human identities are deeply and infinitely complex, so why would we not ultimately need multiple frameworks through which to understand the concept of the “self?”’
— Kat Grant
https://www.transingboundaries.com/am-i-a-gender-gnostic/

#queer #transgender #genderDysphoria #nonbinary #Christianity #orthodoxy #heterodoxy #NewAtheism #gnosticism

Am I a Gender Gnostic?

What actually is the body and the "self" when you're trans? Want to support my work? Join the email list down to receive each post directly to your inbox, for free! If you can afford it and want to show additional support, as well as access the full archive and

Transing Boundaries

WIST Quotations Has Moved!Sep 24, 2025

A quotation from Bertrand Russell

Where the environment is stupid or prejudiced or cruel, it is a sign of merit to be out of harmony with it.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Conquest of Happiness, Part 1, ch. 9 “Fear of Public Opinion” (1930)

More info about this quote: wist.info/russell-bertrand/792…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #BertrandRussell #autonomy #bullying #cruelty #discrimination #folly #foolishness #heterodoxy #independence #individualism #judgment #nastiness #nationalism #prejudice #racism #sexism #stupidity #merit #virtue

WIST Quotations Has Moved!Jun 27, 2025

A quotation from Orwell

To write in plain, vigorous language one has to think fearlessly, and if one thinks fearlessly one cannot be politically orthodox.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1946-01), “The Prevention of Literature,” Polemic Magazine

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/orwell-george/46536/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #orwell #georgeorwell #boldness #conformity #fear #heterodoxy #language #nonconformity #orthodoxy #radical #writing

WIST Quotations Has Moved!Apr 21, 2025

A quotation from Byron

I have not loved the World, nor the World me;
   I have not flattered its rank breath, nor bowed
   To its idolatries a patient knee,
   Nor coined my cheek to smiles, — nor cried aloud
   In worship of an echo: in the crowd
   They could not deem me one of such — I stood
   Among them, but not of them — in a shroud
   Of thoughts which were not their thoughts, and still could,
Had I not filed my mind, which thus itself subdued.

George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) English poet
Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Canto 3, st. 113 (1816)

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/byron/76282/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #byron #difference #heterodoxy #humanity #independence #mob #noncomformist #nonconformity #public #separation #standalone #world

Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Canto 3, st. 113 (1816) - Byron, George Gordon, Lord | WIST Quotations

I have not loved the World, nor the World me; I have not flattered its rank breath, nor bowed To its idolatries a patient knee, Nor coined my cheek to smiles, -- nor cried aloud In worship of an echo: in the crowd They could not deem me one of…

WIST Quotations

Toni Aittoniemi Mar 25, 2025

What do you find when you peel back the curtains behind Jordan Peterson & the ”heterodox” movement:

Fossil fuel hedge funds, Russian oligarch money.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4F01LvrIS2wWKdg4SaVmUC
#jordanpeterson #heterodoxy #fossilfuels #thinktanks

Brief: Jordan Peterson’s Shady Billionaire Backers

Conspirituality · Episode

Spotify