The fear of being different prevents most people from seeking new ways to solve their problems.

When people are intimidated about having their own opinions, oppression is at hand.

But when they have realized that it [society] rejects them forever, they themselves assume the ostracism of which they are victims so as not to leave the initiative to their oppressors

Each [ideology], in the oppressive air of conformity which ideologies create, will force public figures to conform or be ruined on the scaffold of ridicule. In a society of ideological believers, nothing is more ridiculous than the individual who doubts and does not conform.

the sense of security people get from conformity cannot be understated; it is one of the great enemies of Personal Freedom.

Closed-minded people don’t want their ideas challenged.

I think a have so much fear about speaking out or just having an opinion on something.

What holds people back is the fear of being judged.

A lot of people don't want to make their own decisions. They're too scared. It's much easier to be told what to do.

The fear of becoming a "has been" keeps some people from becoming anything.

By insisting upon conformity in the intellectual arena and by threatening with disapproval all those who dissent or who give us unpopular advice, we are in danger of following the totalitarian philosophy—and the totalitarian mistakes.

My world had grown small and shaky. I learned what ostracism means. Men and women whom I had counted as friends found it convenient to pass me on the street without speaking, or were brief and impersonal in their conversation. And often I felt that I was being pointed out as a treasonable being to be shunned as one would the plague.

Our fear of provoking religious hatred has rendered us unwilling to criticize ideas that are increasingly maladaptive and patently ridiculous.

There is always that fear of being dominated by others who will not yield their ground even if you yield yours.