“The first step to be taken by everyone who wishes to act morally is to decide not to act according to the general customs and doings of his fellow-men.”
The Range of Reason (1952), p. 137.
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Jacques Maritain 37
French philosopher 1882–1973Related quotes
Improvisation for the Theater (1963), page 3
Context: Everyone can act. Everyone can improvise. Anyone who wishes to can play in the theater and learn to become 'stage-worthy.' We learn through experience and experiencing, and no one teaches anyone anything. This is as true for the infant moving from kicking and crawling to walking as it is for the scientist with his equations. If the environment permits it, anyone can learn whatever he chooses to learn; and if the individual permits it, the environment will teach him everything it has to teach. 'Talent' or 'lack of talent' have little to do with it.

“The man who realizes his ignorance has taken the first step toward knowledge.”
The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception (1909) Introduction

Ch. 1 : The Foundations of Liberal Policy § 11 : The Limits of Governmental Activity http://mises.org/liberal/ch1sec11.asp
Liberalism (1927)
Context: A free man must be able to endure it when his fellow men act and live otherwise than he considers proper. He must free himself from the habit, just as soon as something does not please him, of calling for the police.
“The act of taking the first step is what separates the winners from the losers.”

Section II, p. 6
Natural Law; or The Science of Justice (1882), Chapter I. The Science of Justice.