conformity is defined as,

1. doing and thinking as others: behavior or
thought that is socially acceptable or expected
- Encarta

throughout the day, consciously or not, we choose
to either accept or reject conformity

that is, at some level, we decide whether we will
think and act in ways that are accepted and
expected

but -

what do such decisions say about us?

what factors influence our decisions?

what are the consequences of choosing to conform?

and

What should we do - conform, or not conform?

let's see how some of our best thinkers have
addressed these questions -

The average man is a conformist, accepting
miseries and disasters with the stoicism of a cow
standing in the rain.
~ Colin Wilson

Fashion is what you adopt when you don't know
who you are.
- Quentin Crisp

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

The conventional view serves to protect us
from the painful job of thinking.
~ J.K. Galbraith

Follow the path of the unsafe, independent
thinker. Expose your ideas to the danger of
controversy. Speak your mind and fear less
the label of "crackpot" than the stigma of
conformity.
- Thomas John Watson, Sr.

The opposite of courage is conformity. Even
a dead fish can go with the flow.
- Jim Hightower

Be who you are and say what you feel, because
those who mind don't matter and those who
matter don't mind.
~ Dr. Seuss

The individual has always had to struggle to
keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If
you try it, you will be lonely often, and some-
times frightened. But no price is too high to
pay for the privilege of owning yourself.
~ Friedrich Nietzsche

The reward for conformity is that everyone likes
you but yourself.
- Rita Mae Brown

We are half ruined by conformity, but we
should be wholly ruined without it.
- Charles Dudley Warner

Be neither a conformist or a rebel, for they are
really the same thing. Find your own path, and
stay on it.
~ Paul Vixie