--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Rely upon your own judgment; be true to…" description: "\"Rely upon your own judgment; be true to your own conscience; follow the light that is within you; all outward lights are so many will-o'-the-wisps. The..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17b/james-allen-1607_being-true_rely-upon-your-own-judgment-be-true-to-y_200069.png" --- # Rely upon your own judgment; be true to your own… ![“Rely upon your own judgment; be true to your own conscience; follow the light that is within you; all outward lights are so many will-o'-the-wisps. There will be those who tell you that you are foolish; that your judgment is faulty; that your conscience is all awry, and that the light within you…” quote by James Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17b/james-allen-1607_being-true_rely-upon-your-own-judgment-be-true-to-y_200069.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17b/james-allen-1607_being-true_rely-upon-your-own-judgment-be-true-to-y_200069.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17b/james-allen-1607_being-true_rely-upon-your-own-judgment-be-true-to-y_200069.png) > “Rely upon your own judgment; be true to your own conscience; follow the light that is within you; all outward lights are so many will-o'-the-wisps. There will be those who tell you that you are foolish; that your judgment is faulty; that your conscience is all awry, and that the light within you is darkness; but heed them not. If what they say is true, the sooner you, as a searcher of wisdom, find it out the better, and you can only make that discovery by bringing your powers to the test. Therefore, pursue your course bravely.” [James Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-allen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Trust your inner judgment over external opinions, and pursue truth bravely. **In simple terms:** Follow your inner light, not misleading external lights. Key Takeaway Listen to your conscience. Themes self‑reliance wisdom courage Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - career decisions - personal growth - spiritual seeking Key Concepts inner guidance critical thinking self‑trust Questions to Reflect On - How do you discern inner truth? - When should you seek external counsel? A Different Perspective External advice can sometimes be valuable. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Being true](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-true/) [Conscience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscience/) [Conscience Follow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscience-follow-751309/) [Courses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courses/) [Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) [Discovery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discovery/) [Ethics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ethics/) [Foolish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foolish/) [Foolish Judgment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foolish-judgment-2091866/) [Heed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heed/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Judgment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judgment/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) [Light within](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light-within/) [Pursue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pursue/) [Rely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rely/) [Rely Judgment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rely-judgment-2091864/) [Rely upon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rely-upon/) [Searcher Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/searcher-wisdom-2091865/) [Searchers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/searchers/) [Tests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tests/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) [Wisps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisps/) [Within you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/within-you/) ## Related quotes > [“Often times it is difficult to rely on your judgment when the focus on your true objective is out of alignment.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-w-boyer/often-times-it-is-difficult-to-rely-on-your-judgment-when-the-focus/) [Mark W Boyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-w-boyer/) > [I've discovered that rejections are not altogether a bad thing. They teach a writer to rely on his own judgment and to say in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/i-ve-discovered-that-rejections-are-not-altogether-a-bad-thing-they/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [If your opponent has a conscience, then follow Gandhi and nonviolence. But if your enemy has no conscience like Hitler, then follow Bonhoeffer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/if-your-opponent-has-a-conscience-then-follow-gandhi-and-nonviolence/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [When a man's conscience and the laws clash, it is his conscience that he must follow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/when-a-man-s-conscience-and-the-laws-clash-it-is-his-conscience-that/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Most of us follow our conscience as we follow a wheelbarrow. We push it in front of us in the direction we want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/most-of-us-follow-our-conscience-as-we-follow-a-wheelbarrow-we-push/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [“People who hear the call to conscience follow what they know inwardly --- what they know in consciousness or at higher levels of awareness.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlton-d-pearson/people-who-hear-the-call-to-conscience-follow-what-they-know-inwardly/) [Carlton D. Pearson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlton-d-pearson/) > [The truly great consider, first, how they may gain the approbation of God, and, secondly, that of their own conscience. Having done this, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/the-truly-great-consider-first-how-they-may-gain-the-approbation-of/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [“...if you live with your conscience and follow your instincts, you can get through with inner peace.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noor-al-hussein/if-you-live-with-your-conscience-and-follow-your-instincts-you-can/) [Noor Al Hussein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noor-al-hussein/) > [Look what we are trying. You call it dharma, but it is not. What we are trying is to come together; come together to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harbhajan-singh-yogi/look-what-we-are-trying-you-call-it-dharma-but-it-is-not-what-we-are/) [Harbhajan Singh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harbhajan-singh-yogi/) > [“It's through your wounds that your light pours out into the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/it-s-through-your-wounds-that-your-light-pours-out-into-the-world/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [“The only way to fight the darkness around us is to light a fire within us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-adam-smith/the-only-way-to-fight-the-darkness-around-us-is-to-light-a-fire/) [Seth Adam Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-adam-smith/) > [Virtue could see to do what virtue would By her own radiant light, though sun and moon Were in the flat sea sunk. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/virtue-could-see-to-do-what-virtue-would-by-her-own-radiant-light/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [I was maybe 5 or 6, and my grandmother would begin sitting me in the Quaker meeting house. I asked my grandmother, 'What am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-turrell/i-was-maybe-5-or-6-and-my-grandmother-would-begin-sitting-me-in-the/) [James Turrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-turrell/) > [Don't fear the darkness if you carry the light within.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sivananda/don-t-fear-the-darkness-if-you-carry-the-light-within/) [Sivananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sivananda/) > [He who never looks up to a living God, to a heavenly presence, loses the power of perceiving that presence, and the universe slowly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-freeman-clarke/he-who-never-looks-up-to-a-living-god-to-a-heavenly-presence-loses/) [James Freeman Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-freeman-clarke/) ## More by James Allen > [A person is limited only by the thoughts that he chooses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-allen/a-person-is-limited-only-by-the-thoughts-that-he-chooses/) [James Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-allen/) > [“The soul attracts that which it secretly harbours; that which it loves, and also that which it fears;”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-allen/the-soul-attracts-that-which-it-secretly-harbours-that-which-it-loves/) [James Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-allen/) > [“All achievements, whether in the business, intellectual, or spiritual world, are the result of definitely directed thought, are governed by the same law and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-allen/all-achievements-whether-in-the-business-intellectual-or-spiritual/) [James Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-allen/) > [“Cause and effect is as absolute and undeviating in the hidden realm of thought as in the world of visible and material things. 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It is a mystic ladder which reaches from earth to heaven, from error to Truth, from pain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-allen/spiritual-meditation-is-the-pathway-to-divinity-it-is-a-mystic-ladder/) [James Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-allen/) > [A man becomes calm in the measure that he understands himself as a thought-evolved being. For such knowledge necessitates the understanding of others as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-allen/a-man-becomes-calm-in-the-measure-that-he-understands-himself-as-a/) [James Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-allen/) [Explore all 220 James Allen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-allen/) ## More Being true quotes > [Life as we know it is fundamentally unsatisfying. I think most folks feel this to be true. 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Yet as a country, we will never tolerate our security being threatened, nor stand idly by when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/so-americans-understand-the-costs-of-war-yet-as-a-country-we-will/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Intuitionists think that there are cases in which, say, some identity statement between real numbers is neither true nor false, even though we know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-f-heck/intuitionists-think-that-there-are-cases-in-which-say-some-identity/) [Richard F. Heck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-f-heck/) > [Don't be pretentious is my first advice to young writers. This is the big problem - just because you're getting an MFA doesn't mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-shteyngart/don-t-be-pretentious-is-my-first-advice-to-young-writers-this-is-the/) [Gary Shteyngart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-shteyngart/) > [There is no normal. I've never met a normal person. The concept is flawed. It implies that there is only one way people are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-johnson/there-is-no-normal-i-ve-never-met-a-normal-person-the-concept-is/) [Maureen Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-johnson/) > [I learned a tremendous amount about what was important to me as a head coach in that I was not in charge. 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That may be true in the classroom, but in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/it-is-not-the-responsibility-of-the-enlightened-teacher-to-bring-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) [Browse all 1,447 Being true quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-true/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Rely upon your own judgment; be true to your own conscience; follow the light that is within you; all outward lights are so many will-o'-the-wisps. There will be those who tell you that you are foolish; that your judgment is faulty; that your conscience is all awry, and that the light within you is darkness; but heed them not. If what they say is true, the sooner you, as a searcher of wisdom, find it out the better, and you can only make that discovery by bringing your powers to the test. 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