I'm not going to be bullied or pushed around by the group of the

“I’m not going to be bullied or pushed around by the group of the day. You’ve got to have political courage. You’ve got to have your own inner beliefs.” So declared Madeleine M. Kunin, the first woman to serve as Governor of Vermont, a leader whose words resound with the timeless call to integrity and moral courage. In her voice, we hear not only the wisdom of a public servant, but the spirit of the ancients — those who stood unbent before the winds of conformity and the tempests of popular opinion. For her saying is not merely political; it is a lesson for every soul who seeks to live rightly in an age of noise and pressure, where truth is often drowned by the cry of the crowd.

In every generation, there are those who rise and those who bend. The weak bend easily, swayed by the voices around them, their hearts seeking approval more than truth. But the strong — the truly courageous — are anchored by an inner belief, a moral compass that no mob can shake. They understand that leadership, whether in politics, in family, or in one’s own soul, demands the strength to walk alone when the multitude marches the other way. Kunin’s words remind us that one must stand not with the shifting tide of the “group of the day,” but upon the solid rock of conviction — that truth is not made by majority, but by conscience.

Look to the story of Socrates, the philosopher of Athens, whose courage still lights the path of every free thinker. When the Athenian assembly demanded that he renounce his teachings, he refused, saying that he would obey his inner voice — the daimonion, the divine whisper of conscience — rather than the commands of the multitude. They condemned him to death, but in dying he conquered their ignorance. His life teaches us that political courage is not merely resistance to others’ will, but obedience to one’s own moral law. It is the art of standing upright when the world demands you kneel.

Kunin herself stood in that same spirit. As a woman in the halls of power — a realm once closed to her kind — she faced voices that sought to diminish, to dismiss, to silence. Yet she did not yield to fear or fashion. She governed not for applause but for principle, guided by inner belief rather than the fleeting praise of parties or pundits. In her defiance of “the group of the day,” she showed that the truest victory is not over opponents, but over one’s own temptation to conform. Her life stands as a testament to those who dare to act with conscience even when alone.

The lesson is clear: courage of belief is the foundation of character. Without it, a person may rise in power yet fall in spirit. Those who lack conviction are like reeds swaying in the wind — their direction dictated by every passing breeze of opinion. But those who live by their inner truth are like oaks rooted deep in the earth. They may bend in the storm, but they do not break. In every arena of life — in politics, in work, in love, in the daily choices of the heart — one must guard that sacred flame of self-trust, lest it be smothered by the demands of the crowd.

Remember that the group of the day changes with the seasons — today’s idol is tomorrow’s fool. History honors not those who followed the clamor, but those who dared to stand against it. The prophets, the reformers, the liberators — they were all accused of rebellion in their time. But time itself vindicated them, for truth is eternal, while popularity is fleeting. The courage to hold one’s own beliefs is not stubbornness, but reverence for that divine spark within which whispers what is right.

So let this be your guide: when the voices around you rise in mockery or pressure, return to the stillness within. Ask not, “What will they think?” but “What is true?” Strengthen your conscience through reflection, through study, through acts of small integrity each day. Speak the truth with calmness, stand firm without arrogance, and act with compassion but without fear. For in the end, political courage is not only for the rulers of nations — it is the daily heroism of every soul who refuses to betray their own heart.

And if you live by this teaching, then though the world may scorn you, your spirit will remain unbroken. You will walk as Kunin walked, as Socrates walked, as all the wise and steadfast have walked before you — guided not by the shifting fires of opinion, but by the everlasting light of inner belief.