About this quote

'We've always done it this way' is a description, not a justification. Following a rule you can neither explain nor defend hands your judgment to whoever set it, however long ago. The honest stance is to ask what makes a practice right — and to stop when no good answer comes.

When to use it

• A new manager scraps a pointless approval step nobody can explain instead of preserving it out of habit.
• A voter questions a family tradition of backing one party and decides issue by issue instead.
• A junior doctor pushes back on an outdated protocol she can't square with the current evidence.