Do not believe in anything simply because you heard it.
Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many.
Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books.
Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.
Do not believe in tradition because they have been handed down for many generations.
But after observation and reflection, when you find that anything conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.

-A retelling of the Buddha’s Kalama Sutta