Zuò xuéwèn bùnéng rényún-yìyún, yào yǒu zìjǐ de jiànjiě.
In scholarship you can't just parrot what others say - you need your own views.
Tips
history
From the Jin-dynasty poet Cai Songnian's 《槽声同彦高赋》: 他日人云吾亦云 - 'in days to come, if others say it, I'll say it too.' Originally self-deprecating, now used to criticize others.
memory
Two 云 (yún, classical for 'to say') flank 亦 ('also'): 'people say, also say.' The character pattern itself echoes the parroting behavior.
