Michael Palin Quotes

Listen and watch the world around you. Don't be satisfied with answers others give you.

It's not my job to tell people what to think. If I can actually in some way help the readers' own creative thinking, then that's got to be to everybody's benefit.

Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking.

Many things that come into the world are not looked into. The individual says 'My crowd doesn't run that way.' I say, don't run with crowds.

Find your place on the planet. Dig in, and take responsibility from there.

I want people to think through issues. I'm just tired of blind alignment.

Don't assume that because everyone believes a thing, that it is right or wrong. Reason things out for yourself. Work to get answers on your own. Understand why you believe things.

Anywhere you go in the world is what you make of it, not what you read in books.

I have found people don't want to be told. That they can figure it out.

If you're just a follower, you never know why you are doing something. Then you can't know if something is good or not. How would you know that what you thought is right, if you didn't think it?

My dad instilled in me to naturally question all authority. I don't follow anything blindly. That's religion, cops, doctors, schools, you name it.

...I'm no longer prepared to accept what people say and what's written in books. I must think things out for myself, and try to find my own answer.

Learn to see, listen, and think for yourself.

Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.

One of the first things I think young people, especially nowadays, should learn is how to see for yourself and listen for yourself and think for yourself.

Question authority; think for yourself. Talk to people, do things unrelated to school - to come up with your own framework for living. The world is too complex and people are too different to be overly prescriptive about the details.

Although I'm a very emotional man, I just can't have blind faith; I have to find out for myself.

I hope that the message I conveyed in 'Julie of the Wolves' is to tell young people to think things out. Think independently.

Think your own thoughts.

The more you travel, the more well-off you'll be, I think.

I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them.

There is no such thing as an unreasonable question, or a silly question, or a frivolous question, or a waste-of-time question. It's your life, and you've got to get these answers.

I encourage all of you to seek out teachers and mentors that challenge you to think for yourself and guide you to find your own voice.

If one knows only what one is told, one does not know enough to be able to arrive at a well-balanced decision.

We shouldn't accept things just because somebody says so.