It’s not unusual for people to go against the norms and standards of society, only ordinarily they do it for the wrong reasons: they claim rewards that they don’t deserve; they assert knowledge that they don’t have; they lie. The difference between the ordinary person and the philosopher is that when the philosopher violates social norms, they do it for the right reasons. We refuse the reward when most people would claim it; we deny knowledge when most people would assert it; we tell the truth when most people would lie.
‘…when people break the yoke of public opinion, it is rarely to rise above it, nearly always to descend below it.’
Nicolas Chamfort
Read more: Think Well, Live Well: A Free Introduction to Philosophy
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