We must not overlook the role that extremists play. They are the gadflies that keep society from being too complacent. – Abraham Flexner, Universities, 1930

How glorious it is — and also how painful — to be an exception. – Alfred de Musset

A man must consider what a rich realm he abdicates when he becomes a conformist. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

The public buys its opinions as it buys its meat, or takes in its milk, on the principle that it is cheaper to do this than to keep a cow. So it is, but the milk is more likely to be watered. – Samuel Butler, Notebooks, 1912