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Opinions are not to be learned by rote, like the letters of an alphabet, or the words of a dictionary. They are conclusions to be formed, and formed by each individual in the sacred and free citadel of the mind, and there enshrined beyond the arm of law to reach, or force to shake; ay! and beyond the right of impertinent curiosity to violate, or presumptuous arrogance to threaten.

— Frances Wright A Course of Popular Lectures (1829)

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More quotes by Frances Wright

I have wedded the cause of human improvement, staked on it my fortune, my reputation and my life.

From the era which dates the national existence of the American people, dates also a mighty step in the march of human knowledge.

Independence Day speech (1828)

We detect … throughout the whole of things — in the operations of nature, of human society, and in those of our own internal percipient and sentient soul — two master energies.

An opinion, right or wrong, can never constitute a moral offense, nor be in itself a moral obligation. It may be mistaken; it may involve an absurdity, or a contradiction. It is a truth; or it is an error: it can never be a crime or a virtue.

A Few Days in Athens (1822)

The Virginians are said to pride themselves upon the peculiar tenderness with which they visit the sceptre of authority on their African vassals.

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Frances Wright (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.