Facts are stubborn things.

Facts are stubborn things.

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.

All empty sould tend toward extreme opinions.

All empty sould tend toward extreme opinions.

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.]

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.

People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character.

People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character.

The foolish and the dead alone never change their opinions.

The foolish and the dead alone never change their opinions.

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.

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.