Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.

Agreement is not the same as being right, and a crowd's comfort can be a warning sign. The thought is that when you notice you're sharing the majority's view, you should check whether you actually reasoned your way there or simply drifted along. It doesn't say the majority is always wrong, only that being in the majority tells you very little about the truth and can quietly stand in for thinking.

The line is widely attributed to Mark Twain, though the exact wording is hard to pin down. It fits his outlook well. Twain was suspicious of social conformity, and Huckleberry Finn shows a boy whose community's accepted opinions about slavery clash with his own sense of decency. The idea also echoes later writers such as Tocqueville and John Stuart Mill, who worried about the pressure public opinion puts on individuals.

Suppose your team is about to approve a plan and everyone nods, including you, though something nags at you. Pausing might mean asking, "What would make this fail?" or privately writing down your honest view before the discussion sways it. You may still agree in the end, but your agreement will be your own.