Opinion quotes

Auden W. H. 1907-1973

‘In memory of Sigmund Freud'

To us he is no more a person now but a whole climate of opinion.

Auden W. H. 1907-1973

‘The Unknown Citizen'

Our researchers into Public Opinion are content
That he held the proper opinions for the time of year;
When there was peace, he was for peace; when there
was war, he went.

Bennett Arnold 1867-1931

The Card

His opinion of himself, having once risen, remained at ‘set fair'.

Butler Samuel ‘Hudibras' 1612-1680

Hudibras

He that complies against his will,
Is of his own opinion still.

Chapin E. h.

At the bottom of a good deal of the bravery that appears in the world there lurks a miserable cowardice. Men will face powder and steel because they cannot face public opinion.

Disraeli Benjamin 1804-1881

Party is organized opinion.

Drew Elizabeth

The world is not run by thought, nor by imagination, but by opinion.

Gilbert Sir Humphrey c.1537-1583

You've no idea what a poor opinion I have of myself - and how little I deserve it.

Goldsmith Oliver 1730-1774

The Vicar of Wakefield

I was ever of opinion, that the honest man who married and brought up a large family, did more service than he who continued single and only talked of population.

Inge William R. 1860-1954

Public opinion: a vulgar, impertinent, anonymous tyrant who deliberately makes life unpleasant for any one of us who is not content to be the average man.

Kennedy John F. 1917-1963

Too often we ... enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.

King William Lyon Mackenzie 1874-1950

Government in the last analysis is organized opinion. Where there is little or no public opinion, there is likely to be bad government, which sooner or later becomes autocratic government.

Lowell James Russell 1819-1891

The pressure of public opinion is like the pressure of the atmosphere; you can't see it but all the same, it is sixteen pounds to the square inch.

Macaulay Dame Rose 1889-1958

Women have one great advantage over men. It is commonly thought that if they marry they have done enough, and need career no further.
If a man marries, on the other hand, public opinion is all against him if he takes this view.

Markel Lester

What you see is news, what you know is background, what you feel is opinion.

Maugham W. Somerset 1874-1965

A Writer's Notebook

Men have an extraordinarily erroneous opinion of their position in nature; and the error is ineradicable.

Mill John Stuart 1806-1873

On Liberty

If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.

Mill John Stuart 1806-1873