It is better to pursue the dictates of one’s own reason, than attempt
to please every body; for to do this is next to impossible. Therefore
we ought to decide according to the best of our judgment, and correct
our mistakes from our own experience. Wise men are instructed by
reason; men of less understanding by experience; the most ignorant by
necessity; and beasts by instinct. When a man so neglects himself,
as not to make a just use of his reason and his mental powers, in
combating with prejudice and folly, as well as the caprice of others,
he will ever be led on in a maze of error, wavering and embarrassed
about pursuing this or that path, until between them he is lost in a
labyrinth, from which he will never be able to extricate himself as
long as he lives.
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