"Advice to intellectuals: let no-one represent you"

Theodor Adorno, a German philosopher and sociologist, is encouraging intellectuals to not depend on anybody to represent them. He might be suggesting that intellectuals must be independent and believe for themselves rather of counting on leaders or groups to speak on their behalf. This might be seen as a call to take specific duty for one's ideas and actions. Alternatively, Adorno might be criticizing the potential for power characteristics and manipulation in group representation, and suggesting that it is more secure for intellectuals to speak for themselves instead of be subsumed by bigger, more organized forces.