It is pure illusion to think that an opinion that passed down from century to century, from generation to generation, may not be entirely false. Pierre Bayle
We must work in harmony with nature once again and reconnect man with the organic roots of his being, with the healing timelessness of living tradition. Prince Charles
Since custom is the principal magistrate of man’s life, let men by all means endeavor to obtain good customs. Francis Bacon
It is necessary for the welfare of society that genius should be privileged to utter sedition, to blaspheme, to outrage good taste, to corrupt the youthful mind, and generally to scandalize one’s uncles. George Bernard Shaw
Most of the things we do, we do for no better reason than that our fathers have done them or our neighbors do them, and the same is true of a larger part than what we suspect of what we think. Oliver Wendell Holmes
Tradition, thou art for suckling children; thou art the enlivening milk for babes, but no meat for men is in there. Stephen Crane
We're all so clogged with dead ideas passed from generation to generation that even the best of us don't know the way out. Peter Weiss
A society in which women are taught anything but the management of a family, the care of men, and the creation of the future generation is a society which is on its way out. Hubbard
Custom creates the whole of equity, for the simple reason that it is accepted. Pascal
The health of a democratic society may be measured by the quality of functions performed by private citizens. Alexis De Tocqueville
Educated people do indeed speak the same languages; cultivated people need not speak at all. Louis Kronenberger
No way of thinking or doing, however ancient, can be trusted without proof. Thoreau
To almost all men the state of things under which they have been used to live seems to be the necessary state of things. Thomas Babington Macaulay
We must not judge the society of the future by considering whether or not we should like to live in it; the question is whether those who have grown up in it will be happier than those who have grown up in our society or those of the past. Joseph Wood Krutch
We are more sensible of what is done against custom than against Nature. Plutarch
He, who does anything because it is the custom, makes no choice. John Stuart Mill
Experience and understanding are our rather abstract god-figures, and ignorance and stupidity will make them angry. Our schools and universities are our religious training centers, our libraries, museums, art galleries, theaters, concert halls and sports arenas are our places of communal worship. Desmond Morris
There is no conceivable human action which custom has not at one time justified and at another condemned. Joseph Wood Krutch
There is nothing so extreme that is not allowed by the custom of some nation or other. Montaigne
Tradition is a guide not a jailer. Somerset Maugham
As the daughter of
missionaries, Sabine Kuegler and her two siblings grew up in a remote area of
Indonesia where a tribe called the Fayu is faced with the probability
of extinction. As children do, she
regarded their customs as natural. By way of example, she recounts:
There are three stages of
friendship in the Fayu Culture. The first is marked by napping next to one
another with forefingers intertwined. The second involves gentle chewing
of the other person’s fingers, and the third and highest stage is expressed by
exchanging crocodile teeth. Each person places a few strands of his or
her hair inside the hollow tooth, and then ties it around the other person’s
neck. The Fayu believe that in order to curse a person, you must have a
piece of his or her hair, so by giving someone your hair, you are indicating
that you trust him or her not to use it to hurt you. Source: Child of the
Jungle: The True Story of a Girl Caught between two Worlds by Sabine Kuegler.
