Eragon and Oromis discussing the elves' religion.
Eldest (2005)
Context: "It seems a cold world without something … more."
"On the contrary," said Oromis, "it is a better world. A place where we are responsible for our own actions, where we can be kind to one another because we want to and because it is the right thing to do instead of being frightened into behaving by the threat of divine punishment. I won't tell you what to believe, Eragon. It is far better to be taught to think critically and then be allowed to make your own decisions than to have someone else's notions thrust upon you. You asked after our religion, and I have answered you true. Make of it what you will."
“Give what you have. To someone, it may be better than you dare to think.”
Source: Kavanagh: A Tale (1849), Chapter 30.
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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 202
American poet 1807–1882Related quotes

Source: Traveling Light: Releasing the Burdens You Were Never Intended to Bear

Interview with Laura Yorke. Reader's Digest. July 2006

Part One, chapter 5, page 27
Why Government Doesn't Work (1995)

“A narcissist is someone better looking than you are.”
Quoted in "Vidal: 'I'm at the Top of a Very Tiny Heap,'" profile by Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times (12 March 1981), Late City Final Edition, Section C, Page 17, Column 1.
1980s


“There is always someone out there getting better than you by training harder than you.”

A Manifesto for a Skeptical Africa (2012)
Context: Most Africans cannot think freely or express their doubts openly because these religions have placed a huge price on freethinking and critical inquiry. Because these belief systems rely on paranormal claims themselves, Africans feel they cannot speak out against superstition as a whole, or they will be ostracized or even killed by religious zealots. Belief in demonic possession, faith healing, and the “restorative” power of holy water can have deadly consequences for believers and whole communities. Africans must reject superstitious indoctrination and dogmatization in public institutions. Africans need to adopt this cultural motto: Dare to think. Dare to doubt. Dare to question everything in spite of what the superstitious around you teach and preach. Africans must begin to think freely in order to ‘emancipate themselves from mental slavery’ and generate ideas that can ignite the flame of an African enlightenment.