11/16/2023
Most people are convinced that as long as they
are not overtly forced to do something by an
outside power, their decisions are theirs, and
that if they want something, it is they who want
it. But this is one of the great illusions we have
about ourselves. A great number of our
decisions are not really our own but are
suggested to us from the outside; we have
succeeded in persuading ourselves that it is we
who have made the decision, whereas we have
actually conformed with expectations of
others, driven by the fear of isolation and by
more direct threats to our life, freedom, and
comfort.
--- Truth,
