It is said public opinion will not bear it. Really? Public opinion, I am sorry to say, will bear a great deal of nonsense. There is scarce any absurdity so gross, whether in religion, politics, science, or manners, which it will not bear.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet

Journal (1827)

Also in "Success," Society and Solitude (1870).