When a man assumes a public trust, he should consider himself as public property, and justly liable to the inspection and vigilance of public opinion; and the more sensibly he is made to feel his dependence, the less danger will there be of his abuse of power.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Conversation with Baron Humboldt (1807)
(Source)
In Seymour, A Winter in Washingtonm ch. 9 (1824), further identified in Raynor, Life of Jefferson (1832). As it is all anecdotal, the accuracy may be easily questioned, but its proximity to the events lends it a certain validity.
Quotations about:
public opinion
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
Certainly, Gentlemen, it ought to be the happiness and glory of a representative to live in the strictest union, the closest correspondence, and the most unreserved communication with his constituents. Their wishes ought to have great weight with him; their opinions high respect; their business unremitted attention. It is his duty to sacrifice his repose, his pleasure, his satisfactions, to theirs, — and above all, ever, and in all cases, to prefer their interest to his own.
But his unbiased opinion, his mature judgment, his enlightened conscience, he ought not to sacrifice to you, to any man, or to any set of men living. These he does not derive from your pleasure, — no, nor from the law and the Constitution. They are a trust from Providence, for the abuse of which he is deeply answerable. Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion.
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Anglo-Irish statesman, orator, philosopher
Speech to the electors of Bristol (3 Nov 1774)
Keep close behind me. Let them say their say.
Stand straight, a mighty tower unwavering,
its height unshaken by such breaths of wind.[Vien dietro a me, e lascia dir le genti:
sta come torre ferma, che non crolla
già mai la cima per soffiar di venti.]Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) Italian poet
The Divine Comedy [Divina Commedia], Book 2 “Purgatorio,” Canto 5, l. 13ff (5.13-15) [Virgil] (1314) [tr. Kirkpatrick (2007)]
(Source)
Virgil scolding Dante for slowing down when other spirits are pointing and murmuring about him having a shadow, unlike them.
(Source (Italian)). Alternate translations:
Can murmurs move you? Let them whisper on,
And bid your Reason firmly keep its throne,
and o'er the fortress of the mind preside.
[tr. Boyd (1802), st. 2]
Come after me, and to their babblings leave
The crowd. Be as a tower, that, firmly set,
Shakes not its top for any blast that blows!
[tr. Cary (1814)]
Come thou behind me, let the people talk;
Stand like a steadfast tower, whose lofty crest
Ne'er quaked obedient to the rocking blast.
[tr. Bannerman (1850)]
Come after me, and let the people talk;
Stand like a steadfast tower, that never wags
Its top for all the blowing of the winds;
[tr. Longfellow (1867)]
Come behind me, and let the folk talk; stand like a firm tower which never shakes its top for blast of winds.
[tr. Butler (1885)]
Follow thou me, and let the people talk:
Stand like a solid tower, that doth not bow
Its crest at any time, though wild winds stalk.
[tr. Minchin (1885)]
Come after me, and let the people talk. Stand as a tower firm, that never wags its top for blowing of the winds.
[tr. Norton (1892)]
Follow me and let the people talk; stand thou as a firm tower which never shakes its summit for blast of winds.
[tr. Okey (1901)]
Come after me and let the people talk. Stand like a firm tower that never shakes its top for blast of wind.
[tr. Sinclair (1939)]
Follow behind me and let them talk their fill:
Stand like a tower whose summit never shakes
For the wind's blowing, and stays immovable.
[tr. Binyon (1943)]
Follow thou me, and let the people chatter;
Stand as a tower stands firm in time of trouble,
Nor bends its head, though winds may bawl and batter.
[tr. Sayers (1955)]
Follow my steps, though all such whisper of you:
be as a tower of stone, its lofty crown
unswayed by anything the winds may do.
[tr. Ciardi (1961)]
Follow me and let the people talk.
Stand as a firm tower which never
shakes its summit for blast of winds.
[tr. Singleton (1973)]
Keep up with me and let the people talk!
Be like a solid tower whose brave height
remains unmoved by all the winds that blow.
[tr. Musa (1981)]
Come on behind me, let those people talk:
Stand like a solid tower which does not shake
Its top whatever winds are blowing on it.
[tr. Sisson (1981)]
Come, follow me, and let these people talk:
stand like a sturdy tower that does not shake
its summit though the winds may blast.
[tr. Mandelbaum (1982)]
Come after me, and let the people talk:
be like a strong tower whose top never falls,
however hard the winds may blow.
[tr. Durling (2003)]
Follow me close behind, and let the people talk: stand like a steady tower, that never shakes at the top, in the blasts of wind.
[tr. Kline (2002)]
Just follow me and let the people talk.
Why can't you be like a sturdy tower
that does not tremble in the fiercest wind.
[tr. Hollander/Hollander (2007)]
Just follow me and let the people talk:
Stand steady as a tower, which doesn't shake
Its top whenever the winds decide to blow.
[tr. Raffel (2010)]
Karl Marx paraphrased the first line of this tercet in the conclusion of his Author's Preface to the First Edition of Das Kapital (1867), crediting Dante:
Every opinion based on scientific criticism I welcome. As to the prejudices of so-called public opinion, to which I have never made concessions, now as aforetime the maxim of the great Florentine is mine: "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti."
Which reads something like "Follow your own course, and let the people talk." The phrase is given in Italian even in the original German edition.
Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.
Buddha (c.563-483 BC) Indian mystic, philosopher [b. Siddharta Gautama]
The Kalama Sutta
Conscience is, in most men, an anticipation of the opinion of others.
Henry Taylor (1800-1886) English dramatist, poet, bureaucrat, man of letters
The Statesman: An Ironical Treatise on the Art of Succeeding, ch. 9 (1836)
If fifty million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.
[Si 50 millions de personnes disent une bêtise, c’est quand même une bêtise.]
Anatole France (1844-1924) French poet, journalist, novelist, Nobel Laureate [pseud. of Jaques-Anatole-François Thibault]
(Spurious)
Sometimes also misattributed to Bertrand Russell. The closest to this specific quotation comes from W. Somerset Maugham. More information about this quotation, including the source of this misattribution and an analogous phrase France did use: If Fifty Million People Say a Foolish Thing, It Is Still a Foolish Thing – Quote Investigator.
Democracy is the recurrent suspicion that more than half of the people are right more than half of the time.
E. B. White (1899-1985) American author, critic, humorist [Elwyn Brooks White]
“Notes and Comments,” New Yorker (3 Jul 1943)
(Source)
The majority is always in the wrong. Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority, it’s time to reform — (or pause and reflect).
Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Mark Twain’s Notebook (13 Oct 1904) [ed. Paine (1935)]
