In Praise of Non-conformity

In this age, the mere example of nonconformity, the mere refusal to bend the knee to custom, is itself a service. Precisely because the tyranny of opinion is such as to make eccentricity a reproach, it is desirable, in order to break through that tyranny, that people should be eccentric. Eccentricity has always abounded when and where strength of character has abounded; and the amount of eccentricity in a society has generally been proportional to the amount of genius, mental vigour, and moral courage which it contained. That so few now dare to be eccentric, marks the chief danger of the time.

John Stuart Mill

I saw this quote on Facebook and thought immediately of my friend Bryan Caplan. Bryan’s book of essays, You Will Not Stampede Me: Essays on Non-Conformism is an excellent guide not simply to Bryan’s non-conformism but also on how to be a successful non-conformist in a conformist world.

The post In Praise of Non-conformity appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.

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