The Thinking Mind

A thinking mind jealously guards its intellectual rights and powers
and does not content itself with a passive or hereditary faith.

A thinking mind is not passively framed by outward circumstance
and is not the creature of accidental impulse.

A thinking mind protects itself against the usurpations of society
and does not cower to human opinion.

A thinking mind resists the bondage of habit
and does not mechnically copy the past, nor live on its old virtues.

modified from The Free Mind by William Ellery Channing