"Seek always for the answer within. Be not influenced by those around you, by their thoughts or their words"
About this Quote
Caddy’s intent is less “think for yourself” in the civic, Enlightenment sense and more “listen inwardly” in a devotional one. As a New Age figure associated with Findhorn’s spiritual community, she’s speaking from a context where intuition is treated as guidance, almost as a private channel to truth. The subtext is that external voices aren’t merely distracting; they’re contaminating. “Those around you” becomes a threat vector, their “thoughts” and “words” a kind of psychic smog.
That framing explains the quote’s enduring appeal and its hidden risk. It empowers people who feel steamrolled by family, institutions, or conventional expectations, giving them permission to trust an inner compass. It also quietly devalues disagreement and expertise, as if pressure-testing your beliefs is the same thing as being “influenced.” In a celebrity-coded culture, the irony lands hard: the line warns against other people’s words even as it asks to become one of them.
Quote Details
| Topic | Self-Improvement |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Caddy, Eileen. (2026, January 18). Seek always for the answer within. Be not influenced by those around you, by their thoughts or their words. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/seek-always-for-the-answer-within-be-not-11955/
Chicago Style
Caddy, Eileen. "Seek always for the answer within. Be not influenced by those around you, by their thoughts or their words." FixQuotes. January 18, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/seek-always-for-the-answer-within-be-not-11955/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Seek always for the answer within. Be not influenced by those around you, by their thoughts or their words." FixQuotes, 18 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/seek-always-for-the-answer-within-be-not-11955/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.







