Public opinion is a weak tyrant, compared with our private opinion--what a man thinks of himself, that is which determines, read more

Public opinion is a weak tyrant, compared with our private opinion--what a man thinks of himself, that is which determines, or rather indicates his fate.

He that never changes his opinions, never corrects his mistakes, and will never be wiser on the morrow than he read more

He that never changes his opinions, never corrects his mistakes, and will never be wiser on the morrow than he is today.

I had grown tired of standing in the lean and lonely front line facing the greatest enemy that ever confronted read more

I had grown tired of standing in the lean and lonely front line facing the greatest enemy that ever confronted man--public opinion.

His deeds inimitable, like the Sea
That shuts still as it opes, and leaves no tracts
Nor read more

His deeds inimitable, like the Sea
That shuts still as it opes, and leaves no tracts
Nor prints of Precedent for poore men's facts.

Every man has a right to his opinion, but no man has a right to be wrong in his facts.

Every man has a right to his opinion, but no man has a right to be wrong in his facts.

It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude after our own; read more

It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.

One should respect public opinion in so far as it is necessary to avoid starvation and keep out of prison, read more

One should respect public opinion in so far as it is necessary to avoid starvation and keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny.

Force and not opinion is the queen of the world; but it is
opinion that uses the force.
read more

Force and not opinion is the queen of the world; but it is
opinion that uses the force.
[Fr., La force est la reine du monde, et non pas l'opinion; mais
l'opinion est celle qui use de la force.]

It is the difference of opinion that makes horse races.

It is the difference of opinion that makes horse races.